The WhatsApp app for iOS has begun rolling out a new feature that users have been wanting for a long time: Picture-in-Picture. Users will now be able to minimize a WhatsApp video call to the corner of the screen to continue chatting in another app.
While this feature has been available for FaceTime for a long time, WhatsApp users will know that if they switch apps on their iPhone, the person they’re talking to will see a pause in the video even though they can still hear you. The new update takes advantage of iOS’s picture-in-picture feature to minimize a video call in a small window that floats above your home screen and other apps.
How to Use Picture-in-Picture for WhatsApp Video Calls on iPhone
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To enable this feature, go to the Settings app on your iPhone, then tap General And Picture in pictureand flip Start PiP automatically switch to green. Then make a video call using WhatsApp as usual. Once the call starts, swipe up from the bottom of the screen and the video will automatically collapse into a small window showing the caller, which can be moved to any corner of the screen.
This process is similar to how FaceTime video calls work, although there are a few differences. First, WhatApp shrinks the entire window, including the smaller window showing your face, while FaceTime only shows the video of the person you’re calling. Also, as you can see in the image above, the quality of a FaceTime call is much better. But nonetheless, it’s a welcome, if not belated, feature of the WhatsApp app for iOS.
If you are looking for WhatsApp on other Apple devices, see How to install WhatsApp on Mac and How to install WhatsApp on iPad.