Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
X, formerly known as Twitter, has announced plans to introduce voice and video calls to the platform.
This is the latest move by the billionaire owner, Mr Elon Musk, to turn his app into what he calls an “everything app” modelled after China’s super app, WeChat.
These features, when introduced, would place X in direct competition with WhatsApp, Telegram, and other social media apps offering the same services.
Making its features unique, Mr Musk said users would not need phone numbers to make calls on X.
According to the Twitter owner, the features would work on different operating systems, including iOS, Android, Mac, and personal computers.
This means that users would also be able to make calls not only on their phones but also on computers.
Announcing the new features via a Thursday morning post on the X platform, Mr Musk said, “Video & audio calls coming to X: Works on iOS, Android, Mac & PC, No phone number needed.
“X is the effective global address book. That set of factors is unique.
Currently, the X Direct Messages (DMs) feature supports voice messages. The use of the platform for calls (both voice and video) will be a first for the platform, which has undergone a series of changes since Mr Musk took over the app.
So far, users can have live conversations on the platform through Spaces, an open platform to which anyone can join in the conversation.
This is the latest move announced by Mr Musk after he recently said the app will change the way news is shared on the platform.
The calling functionality feature was first mulled by Mr Musk in May this year. He said, “Coming soon will be voice and video chat from your handle to anyone on this platform, so you can talk to people anywhere in the world without giving them your phone number,” he had announced in a tweet.
Mr Musk has shared his plans to allow users to watch videos and express their thoughts — including in 25,000-character-long posts. They will also be able to send payments and more.
