WhatsApp may have started to roll out voice calls to some of its user base, according to reports by users. Screenshots surfacing on Reddit suggest the vocal addition to the Facebook-owned messaging service could be making its way to devices, one feature the company has previously advised will be heading to the app early this year.
The images posted by Pradnesh07 shows the app as having three distinct tabs at the top, listed as Calls, Chats, and Contacts. When in the Calls tab, presumably used to log calls made and received, an icon at the top to start a new call appears, which when used with an existing contact, brings up a rudimentary calling menu. Another user claims that voice calls will not be enabled in the app via an update, but instead by an invitation system requiring users to be called by a contact who already has voice calling enabled, though this can apparently be bypassed.
While it is entirely possible the screenshots may have been faked, WhatsApp has already confirmed it will be adding voice calls to the service. In October 2014, Fierce Wireless reports that CEO Jan Koum advised it would be arriving sometime in the first quarter of this year, though the app faced certain technical hurdles, such as not having access to some phone microphones.
Though the images purportedly show the Android version of the app with the feature, it is likely WhatsApp will be bringing voice dialing to other formats either simultaneously or shortly after.
