You can now multitask better by switching to another app during a WhatsApp video call on your iPhone without your video being paused.
- What’s happening? Meta is rolling out a new WhatsApp feature that permits you to conduct video calls while using other apps on your iPhone.
- Why care? Before this update, you couldn’t multitask during video calls.
- What to do? Update your copy of WhatsApp.
WhatsApp brings picture-in-picture support to video calls
WhatsApp has supported a picture-in-picture mode for years, but it’s remained confined to YouTube clips. With it, you can play a YouTube video that someone sent you in chat and continue watching it in a small window within the app as you navigate to another chat. But as soon as you exit the app, the video stops playing.
WhatsApp for iOS v23.3.77 brings true picture-in-picture support for video calls.
“With support for iOS Picture in Picture (PiP), you can now multitask during a WhatsApp call without your video being paused,” WhatsApp notes.
Don’t wait for automatic updates (which can take days) to get the feature. Instead, open the WhatsApp Messenger page on the App Store and hit the Update button.
If you don’t have picture-in-picture support for video calls although you’ve updated your copy of the app, check back in a few days or weeks. “These features will roll out over the coming weeks,” the company notes in the update’s changelog.
For example, WhatsApp’s Avatars feature launched in October 2022 is still rolling out on iOS. This update also includes other tweaks, like the ability to describe a document with captions before sending it or using longer group subjects.
How to use WhatsApp picture-in-picture video calls
If you’ve ever used picture-in-picture mode during a FaceTime video call on your iPhone, you’ll instantly know how to use this new WhatsApp feature.
Now when you make or accept a video call on WhatsApp, you can go to the home screen and launch another app while the call continues in a floating window.
You can move the picture-in-picture window around, double-tap or pinch-zoom it to make it smaller or more prominent. For those interested, we have a separate tutorial with additional tips on using picture-in-picture on the iPhone.