How much have you used WhatsApp calls?

They were launched as a great novelty after many months of rumors about this new feature that was coming to the application. We talk about WhatsApp calls. However, how much have you actually used WhatsApp calls?

How do you know how much you have used WhatsApp calls?

You can be one of the three types of person that I will tell you below. Either, like me, you never use WhatsApp calls, except when you make a mistake and call accidentally, or you are one of those who does use them a lot and you are someone weird, or you have ever used them, but you would not know how to specify how many. Well, actually that is not a problem, because thanks to the characteristics of WhatsApp you can know exactly how many calls you have sent and how many WhatsApp calls you have received, and even the data you have spent with those calls.

For this, all you have to do is go to WhatsApp, and in the main message window, press the three-dot button that appears in the upper right corner. Here select Settings and then go to the Data usage option. Now select Network Usage, which appears at the top of the screen. Here you will find all the data about the network use that you have made, including the calls sent and received from WhatsApp. How's it going?

Calls are not very successful

And the funny thing is that WhatsApp calls have not just been very successful. For various reasons. One of them is that the quality they offer is still not very good. Even if it is said that VoIP calls are better than standard calls, the truth is that the app sometimes offers us calls with a little poor quality, and that makes us not consider it the best option when we have to call. Usually when we call, we want an immediate response, so we don't want to be testing a platform that we don't know how it's going to work.

In addition to this, there were already other platforms before WhatsApp that we used for VoIP calls, and that together with the fact that WhatsApp did not achieve great quality with their calls, has meant that many users have not changed applications to call, and continue to use the same app to call, leaving WhatsApp only to send messages.

Finally, another aspect should be taken into account, and that is that more and more rates include free minutes, especially those that include more data. Users who have little data do not consider calling on WhatsApp, because it would quickly consume their data rate. Those who have a lot of data, do not call by WhatsApp because they can directly call for free.

What about video calls?

Now WhatsApp might want to compete with Hangouts and Skype by including video calling in its app. It is an option that could be interesting, and that would contribute more than just calls. Many iOS users use FaceTime for these types of calls. Skype is the best known app for making video calls, and Hangouts is the simplest option for Android users because it is a Google service. It is possible that, if WhatsApp does not offer something especially good, you will find yourself in the same situation. And is that, why would users change video call service, when the new one is worse?

We will see if WhatsApp makes your video calls successful or not. Perhaps it is more interesting for them to focus on launching news that are not so much intended to imitate or compete with other apps or services, but rather to improve the services that WhatsApp already offers.