It’s the most popular instant messenger in the world, and it could soon take an even more central place in your phone.
Meta messaging continues to modernize and improve. After the arrival of bulleted lists in text boxes and the promise of a new competitor to AirDrop, WhatsApp could simply replace the Phone application on your smartphone. We take stock.
Make calls with WhatsApp
Let’s get along well: it is obviously already possible to make calls to your contacts on WhatsApp thanks to a dedicated icon within the conversations themselves. But the specialized site WABetaInfo, which scrutinizes the slightest novelty in future versions of the application, predicts the arrival of a real dialer within the application.
Clearly, it will soon be possible to make phone calls from WhatsApp, even to numbers that are not registered on the application. Note, however, that calls would continue to be made over wifi, and not over a traditional cellular network. Depending on one’s internet connection, this may or may not be good news.
Still, this new feature could allow some people to sort things on their home screen. What’s the point of keeping the standard Telephone application if the instant messaging we use daily intends to replace it?
A new feature exclusive to Android?
For now, this feature only seems to be available on Android smartphones. Rather logical: Google’s OS is much more permissive on native applications that can be replaced. But, with the DMA coming into effect last month, the lines are no longer so clear.
Indeed, Apple is now obliged to give its users more free will. To the point of, soon, allowing the uninstallation of the Photos application, until now absolutely central to the iOS user experience.
Who knows, maybe the Phone app will be next and will therefore allow Meta to focus on developing the dialer on the iOS version of its messaging? To be continued.
