WhatsApp lets anyone join calls from a browser, no account
Anyone with the app can create a link and guests join with a name once the host admits them; the company does not say in which countries it already works.
WhatsApp announced on Oct. 14, on its official blog, a feature called "Guest Calling." It works like this: someone with an account generates a link, and anyone who opens it joins from a computer browser, with no account and nothing to install.
To create the link, the host goes to the Calls tab, taps "+" and copies it. The guest opens it, types a name and waits in a lobby until the host lets them in. The host can remove any guest at any time.
The company says up to 32 people fit in a call, one-on-one or in a group, that calls are free and have no time limit. It also says they are end-to-end encrypted. Guests cannot see other people's phone numbers, send messages or add people to the call. They can share their screen, react and raise a hand, according to the blog and Xataka México, a Mexican tech outlet.
For WhatsApp users in Mexico, the change matters in one concrete case: inviting a supplier, a teacher or a relative who does not have the app without asking them to sign up. The call panel warns that anyone with the link can join and that it should only be shared with people the host trusts.
What is not confirmed
The blog does not name countries. Xataka México reports it as available in Mexico but does not cite a WhatsApp statement. WABetaInfo, a site that tracks changes to the app, describes a gradual rollout that can take weeks to reach every account.
None of this has been tested independently. The encryption and the lack of cost are the company's own descriptions, and the sources refer to a computer browser: they do not say whether it works from a phone's browser.
Call links already existed, but only for users with an account, and in July WhatsApp added calls from its web version, according to TechCrunch. Still pending is the Google Calendar and Outlook integration, which the company promised for "later this year."
