Until now, if someone tries to call you on WhatsApp when you’re already on a WhatsApp call, the caller received a busy tone and couldn’t bother waiting for the other call to be cut off. This was because you will not be notified at the time that you were receiving another call. The latest update to WhatsApp changes just that as the Facebook-owned service has now started rolling out a new version of its popular messaging app.

WhatsApp has announced a new ‘Call waiting’ feature for Android phones. With this update, users will now have the ability to choose whether they want to pick up the call that is on wait or ignore them. After installing the update, if you get a second call on WhatsApp while already being on a call, your phone will ring and will notify you about the second call.

The call UI when receiving a second call features a ‘Decline’ button in a red box and an ‘End & Accept’ inside a green box. Pressing ‘Decline’ will reject the second call while tapping on ‘End & Accept’ will terminate the first call and connect you to the second caller. There’s no option for keeping a call on hold or merging the two calls into a conference call.

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How to get WhatsApp Call Waiting feature

Required WhatsApp version

The new call wait feature on WhatsApp is only active for version 2.19.352 of stable release and versions 2.19.357/2.19.358 on beta channels. You can thus get it only by updating the WhatsApp app on your Android device.

Updating via Google Play

  1. Open Google Play on your Android device.
    • Alternatively, you can download the latest version of WhatsApp here.
  2. Search for ‘WhatsApp’ at the top.
  3. Click on the WhatsApp app from the search result.
  4. Click on Update.

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Updating via APK file

  1. Allow your phone to install apps from sources other than Google Play.
    1. Head over to Menu > Settings.
    2. Tap on Security.
    3. Switch the toggle next to Unknown Sources.
  2. Download the latest WhatsApp update from APK Mirror.
  3. Open the downloaded file.
  4. Click Install.
    • This will now install the latest version of WhatsApp on your device. (Guide)

There you go! You now have call waiting enabled on WhatsApp.

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