WhatsApp has become one of the most popular messaging and calling apps, with over 2 billion users worldwide. One of the handy features of WhatsApp is the ability to make voice and video calls over an internet connection rather than using traditional cellular minutes. However, some users have encountered an issue where incoming regular phone calls can cause WhatsApp calls to disconnect.
How WhatsApp Calling Works
To understand why WhatsApp calls may disconnect when a regular call comes in, it helps to know how WhatsApp calling works under the hood. When you make a WhatsApp call, your voice data is transmitted as packets over the internet rather than the cellular network. This allows WhatsApp to route calls over Wi-Fi connections and avoid using up cellular minutes.
On smartphones, WhatsApp relies on the Voice over IP (VoIP) protocol to handle call setup and audio transmission. When a WhatsApp call is initiated, the app allocates resources on the device like microphone access to capture audio and network connectivity to transmit data packets. The recipient’s device receives these packets, decodes them back into audio, and plays them through the speakerphone so both parties can hear each other.
How Incoming Calls Impact WhatsApp Calls
Here’s what happens when you are on a WhatsApp call and a regular cellular call comes in:
- The cellular network sends a signal to your phone indicating there is an incoming call.
- Your phone’s baseband processor detects this signal and notifies the operating system.
- The OS interrupts any ongoing activities (like a WhatsApp call) to surface the native phone calling interface.
- The interruption causes the WhatsApp app to lose access to required resources like the microphone.
- Without the ability to capture and transmit audio, the WhatsApp call drops.
In essence, regular call notifications from the cellular network override WhatsApp’s VoIP call system, causing the app to get disconnected from the call.
Does this happen on iOS and Android devices?
The behavior of getting disconnected from a WhatsApp call when receiving a native call is largely consistent across both iOS and Android platforms. However, there are some differences:
iOS
- WhatsApp calls will always get disconnected when a native call comes in.
- It is not possible to reject the native call and stay on the WhatsApp call.
- You will have to call back the WhatsApp contact manually after finishing the cellular call.
Android
- Some newer Android models can reject incoming calls without disconnecting WhatsApp calls.
- This allows you to stay on the WhatsApp call uninterrupted while dismissing the native call.
- Functionality may vary across manufacturers and Android versions.
So in summary, incoming cellular calls force WhatsApp calls to disconnect universally on iOS, while Android offers more flexibility in some cases. But the default behavior remains the same across platforms – receiving a native call interrupts WhatsApp calling.
Why does this happen?
There are technical and business reasons why cellular call notifications disrupt WhatsApp calling:
- Limited multitasking – Smartphones are not built to handle two simultaneous voice calls out of the box.
- Telephony precedence – Cellular voice calls take priority for compatibility with emergency services.
- Platform restrictions – iOS and Android limit VoIP app flexibility to ensure quality of service.
- Business incentives – Carriers want users to utilize cellular minutes that have been paid for.
While WhatsApp likely has the technical capability to enable call persistence, the constraints imposed by carriers and mobile operating systems make it difficult. Users will have to manually redial dropped WhatsApp calls for the foreseeable future.
Steps to avoid WhatsApp call drops
While there is no way to keep a WhatsApp call connected when receiving regular calls, you can take certain steps to minimize disruptions:
- Put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode before making a WhatsApp call.
- Request people not to call you during your WhatsApp call timings.
- Schedule WhatsApp calls when you are less likely to receive other calls.
- Switch from cellular network to Wi-Fi whenever possible for WhatsApp calls.
- Use call forwarding or call waiting features available on some carriers.
Following these tips should help reduce the frequency of WhatsApp call drops when native calls come in. But the core limitation still remains for iOS users and many Android devices.
Does this happen on WhatsApp for desktop?
WhatsApp’s desktop apps for Windows and Mac do not face this issue as they utilize the computer’s resources rather than the phone’s. When using WhatsApp on your laptop or PC, incoming calls on your phone will not disrupt an ongoing WhatsApp call on the desktop.
However, the mobile app on the phone will still drop the WhatsApp call once it detects an incoming native call. But you can seamlessly resume the call on your computer without having to redial. WhatsApp intelligently transfers the call to ensure minimal disruption.
So users who frequently juggle between cellular and WhatsApp calls should consider using the desktop client for uninterrupted VoIP calling.
Can you receive a WhatsApp call when already on a normal call?
Just like outgoing cellular calls can disrupt an ongoing WhatsApp call, incoming WhatsApp calls also face limitations if you are already on a native call:
- On iOS, you cannot receive WhatsApp calls during native calls at all.
- On Android, you may see a call waiting prompt for WhatsApp calls.
- But accepting the WhatsApp call will disconnect the regular call.
- There is no capability to switch between the two calls on smartphones.
So if you are on a regular call and someone tries to WhatsApp call you, they will likely not be able to reach you on mobile devices. However, WhatsApp desktop clients again provide better flexibility to accept new calls.
Can you merge WhatsApp calls with normal calls?
There is no way currently to merge an ongoing WhatsApp call with a native cellular call. The technically limitations of handling two live calls simultaneously prevent any call merging capabilities.
Some possible merge scenarios and outcomes:
- If you try to merge by calling a regular number from WhatsApp call screen, your WhatsApp call will disconnect.
- If you try to merge by WhatsApp calling someone on a native call, your cellular call will disconnect.
- You cannot conference in a WhatsApp call into a regular call by calling from another device.
The only workaround is to have one person call the other natively, add them to a conference call, and then have the other person start a WhatsApp call with a third person. This allows 3 people to talk but requires a cellular conference call setup.
Can you transfer WhatsApp calls to normal calls?
While WhatsApp does not support merging calls, you can transfer a WhatsApp call to a cellular call or vice versa in a few manual steps:
- Inform the other person you need to transfer the call.
- Hang up the WhatsApp call first.
- Immediately call the person back over cellular or WhatsApp respectively.
- They should still be on the line to answer your new call.
This way you can effectively transfer the call between WhatsApp and regular calling. But it does require coordinating with the other person on the call in order to work.
Does using WhatsApp for calls save money?
One of the major advantages of using WhatsApp calling rather than your cellular minutes is the cost savings:
- WhatsApp calls utilize data channels rather than cellular voice minutes.
- Data plans are often cheaper than paying per minute for calls.
- WhatsApp calls over Wi-Fi incur no mobile data charges at all.
So if you have unlimited data or Wi-Fi access, WhatsApp can be a very affordable way to make national and international calls versus paying cellular long distance charges.
Cost comparison
| Call Type | Cost Per Minute |
|---|---|
| Cellular (no plan) | $0.25 |
| Cellular (with unlimited minutes plan) | $0.00 |
| WhatsApp over cellular data | $0.05 (estimated based on average data rates) |
| WhatsApp over Wi-Fi | $0.00 |
Your actual savings will depend on your cellular plan rates and data plan costs. But in general, WhatsApp presents an affordable alternative for calling without using cellular plan minutes.
Can you increase WhatsApp call quality and reliability?
While drops from incoming native calls can’t be prevented, you can optimize your WhatsApp call quality and reliability in a few ways:
- Use a stable high-speed Wi-Fi network whenever possible.
- Make sure you have adequate mobile data signal strength if using cellular.
- Disable battery saver modes which may degrade performance.
- Close other apps running in the background on your device.
- Use WhatsApp desktop apps which offer better call stability.
- Update to the latest WhatsApp version which may improve performance.
Testing different internet connections and minimizing other resource usage can help achieve more consistent WhatsApp call quality.
Conclusion
To summarize, receiving an incoming regular phone call will typically disconnect a WhatsApp call on both iPhones and Android devices due to platform limitations. While technology constraints prevent this from being avoided completely, using WhatsApp’s desktop apps provide one workaround when possible. And WhatsApp calls continue to offer financial savings over direct cellular calling in most cases. Focusing on optimizing your internet connectivity provides the best overall experience making WhatsApp calls.