Most of Facebook’s social media bets are paying off quite well. And if you’ve been thinking that WhatsApp video might be slacking due to the existence of other favorable alternatives then you’re absolutely wrong, my friend. The widely popular messaging giant has today announced that its 1.2 billion users are spending a lot of time making video calls as well — in addition to its text messaging experience.
WhatsApp has now revealed that users are making more than 55 million video calls, spending more than 340 million minutes of their day on the app. This is of significance to the messaging giant as the video calling feature was added to the app just last year, around six months ago. It has further been complemented with a Snapchat Stories clone, called WhatsApp Status earlier this year — it has about 175 million daily active users.
This was surely one of the most requested features until it was finally handed down to the users — who seem to have readily accepted and made it a part of their daily lives. This means the delay and hard work in building a robust video calling feature – in line with their aim – has paid off for WhatsApp. It had then said,
We want to make these features available to everyone, not just those who can afford the most expensive new phones or live in countries with the best cellular networks.
This is especially true for Indian WhatsApp users, who’re the most prominent backers of this video calling feature. The company has today revealed that more than 200 million monthly active users in our country are completing a total of over 50 million video calling minutes each day. This is the highest amount of time spent by users on the platform, making video calls, globally. This figure accounts for every mobile platform, be it Android, iOS or even the flailing Windows 10 Mobile.
What could be reasons for the success of WhatsApp’s video calling feature, you ask? Well, the calling interface is quite simple and can be accessed instantly from within the chat window. It is now being further simplified as video calling gets its own button on Android, the operating system prominent in the nation.
It involved minimal learning, just tapping another button turned audio calls into video ones. It also learns and improves the video quality, depending on your network connection. One can also attribute the rise in usage of mobile services to Jio’s advent into the country’s telecom sector. It has helped slash down the tariff rates and the situation more competitive in the current market.
