Top new features on WhatsApp include video calls and group chat invites

The WhatsApp team seems to be in overdrive with reports suggesting multiple new features besides the ones being gradually rolled out over the past few months. We're listing down a few features already available or anticipated to make their way to one of the most widely used IM in India and the world.

Video Calling

WhatsApp voice calling set the tone for net neutrality debate in the country and now the company is planning to add another element to the feature -- video. The speculations of video calling feature being added to WhatsApp has been making round of the internet since December. However, we might be quite close to the launch with WhastApp crowd-sourcing translations for the name of the video calling feature.

Joining group with QR codes and NFC

Soon, you'll be able to share QR codes on posters and posts to let people join a WhatsApp group. Much like BBM's groups, WhatsApp seems to be looking for ways to make the platform more social. Group invites are also expected to be distributable via NFC tags.

Similar to the scan you perform to activate WhatsApp for Web, we could be joining groups on the messaging app with a tap or scan.

Call back

This feature shows that WhatsApp wants to be the go-to app not just for your messages, but also your calls. Whenever a call doesn't go through, WhatsApp will let you record a message that will be dropped off in the recipient's inbox as a voice message.

Zip File Sharing

WhatsApp already lets you share documents and an upcoming feature is said to enable sharing of even zip files. The size limit and how it'll work with iOS remains elusive.

Bold, Italics, Strikethrough

The new feature of WhastApp will let you make texts more rich with the ability to bold, strike through and italicise text by placing the '*', '~' or '_' symbols before and after the text.