WhatsApp matches FaceTime by letting people without accounts join calls from a browser

The host opens the Calls tab, taps "+", creates a call link and sends it to the outsider ^[7]. The outsider opens it in a computer browser ^[8] and waits in a room until the host lets them in ^[4]. Once admitted, they can share a screen, raise a hand or react with a thumbs up or a heart ^[10].

That sequence makes this a host's tool. The host creates the call, admits the guest and can remove them at any point ^[7][4]. Engadget reports that guests cannot start a call ^[6].

Every guest has to be admitted by the host, and no guest sees anyone's phone number ^[4][5]. The reports do not include usage figures, whether guests count toward the 32-person limit WhatsApp cites ^[3], or whether a link can be forwarded.

MacRumors says WhatsApp is matching what Apple has offered in FaceTime since iOS 15, where anyone can join with a link ^[11]. Engadget calls FaceTime's version "little-known" ^[12]. In our view, a guest tier is only useful to hosts who think to offer it, and Apple's years-old version suggests that habit does not form on its own. Engadget places the feature in a year of WhatsApp updates aimed at business users ^[13].

We would use guest links for calls with people outside the company who need to talk and show a screen, and give an account to anyone who needs more. The trade-off is that the host has to be there to admit each guest, and the outsider can never start the call. Two tests sort most cases: whether the outsider needs to do more than talk, share a screen and react, and whether you will meet them more than once.

- One-off, talk only: send a guest link. - One-off, needs to message you afterward: use the link for the call and follow up in a channel you both already have ^[5]. - Recurring, talk only: the link works, but you admit them every time and they cannot call you ^[4][6]. - Recurring, needs more: get them an account.