WhatsApp is one of the most used messaging applications, since it offers the possibility of sending text messages, making voice calls and video calls. Three functionalities in one, and in Android, some of them were better optimized than in the iPhone, but this is about to change, since (finally) a necessary function arrives on the iPhone.
Video calls are going to be better
WhatsApp incorporates the ability to make video calls, and both iOS and Android allow multitasking features, such as having a floating window with the video call in progress, while we are in another app. On the iPhone, that PiP (Picture in Picture) mode arrived with iOS 14 and, to date, applications such as FaceTime have been able to take advantage of this function.
When we use PiP, we can access another application while we have a video call in progress, without it having to pause. Well, in the case of WhatsApp on iPhone, if we wanted to go to another application while we were talking to someone, the video call would pause, if on the iPhone you exited the app. Well, a few years later, PiP comes to WhatsApp video calls on the iPhone, officially.
version of WhatsApp that incorporates PiP is 23.3.77, And finally, iPhone users will be able to use this function that they have been enjoying on Android for some time. To enjoy this new WhatsApp function on the iPhone, it is enough that we have the latest version of the application updated. From here, when we want to change the app during a video call, we will no longer have problems.
In order to have calls with a floating window, we will need to activate the Picture in Picture mode. For this we need to go to Settings > General > Picture in picture. We activate the option that appears, and automatically all those applications that are compatible with the function will already work.
The limitations of WhatsApp
Although WhatsApp is gradually opening up its ecosystem, the truth is that it is a service that, in certain aspects, has disadvantages compared to other messaging apps. The limitation of PiP in video calls on the iPhone is just one of them, but there are still pending tasks like being able to send slightly larger files, being able to send images without the compression algorithm destroying them, or things as simple as posting a message in a private chat.
Over the years, video calls and voice calls have been arriving, yes. But there are certain aspects, already elementary, about its operation that have complicated us, rather than helped. For example, not having a WhatsApp app for iPad or Mac until relatively recently, not being able to have our account synchronized on various devices and depending on our iPhone being connected to the internet. luckily this it is something that has changed. As also, when we wanted to change the phone (we are no longer saying the operating system), the backup copy of the chats was very tedious. Luckily, we now have the option to transfer iPhone chats to Android and vice versa. Something that, without a doubt, greatly facilitates both the experience of using the service and the learning curve.