WhatsApp calling has always had one strict rule: both people needed the app. That rule is now gone. The company’s new guest calling feature lets any WhatsApp user share a link that opens a voice or video call in a browser, no account, no download, no sign-up required on the other end.
The mechanics are simple. A WhatsApp user opens the Calls tab, taps the “+” icon, and generates a call link to send however they like. Whoever receives it opens the link in a computer browser, types in their name, and waits to be let in. The host still has to approve every guest individually; nobody walks into a call unannounced. Once inside, guests can share their screen, react with emoji, and raise a hand, but they can’t see other participants’ phone numbers, send messages, or pull anyone else into the call, and the host can remove them at any time. Calls stay free, end-to-end encrypted, and uncapped on time, with room for up to 32 people.
None of this is conceptually new — Apple has let people join a FaceTime call from a browser link without an Apple device since iOS 15. What’s notable is that WhatsApp just erased the same barrier for a platform with roughly two billion daily call minutes behind it, and did it in a way clearly aimed past personal calls and into the territory Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet have had mostly to themselves: the ad hoc meeting with an outside client, contractor or classmate who isn’t going to install a new app for one conversation. WhatsApp’s own announcement leans into exactly that framing, pointing to colleagues and tutors as the kind of guest this was built for.
Calendar integrations for Google Calendar and Outlook are planned for later this year, which would let a call link drop straight into a meeting invite the way a Zoom or Meet link does today, rather than requiring someone to copy and paste it by hand. iPhone users can already schedule a WhatsApp call from the Calendar app.
The rollout itself is uneven for now. WhatsApp hasn’t named which countries have access, and the feature is arriving gradually to users on the latest app versions, so an updated app is no guarantee the guest-link option shows up immediately. For a feature built to remove friction, the early days of getting it still have some.