Hike messenger rolls out video calling feature for everyone

A day after news of WhatsApp releasing a video calling feature on its beta app released, Hike has announced that it is rolling out video calling feature to its entire user base. Hike has been testing the Video calling feature in its beta version since September with a select focus group. The video calling feature will now be available for everyone, starting with Android users for now. In order to get the video calling feature, these are the steps to follow:

• Download Hike Messenger, if you don’t have it OR update Hike Messenger if you haven’t updated it since September.
• Select the chat thread of a friend you want to connect with.
• Tap on the call button on the top right that prompts you to further select Voice or Video and start off your call.

The video calling feature is integrated into the chat threads and requires just a single tap to launch the video dialer. According to Hike, the video calling feature has been built to work under many network conditions, including those on 2G networks. Just like the Google Duo video caller, Hike also gives you a live preview of the caller before you answer the call. The feature will currently be available only to Android users, with iOS users expected to get it soon. Speaking on the launch Kavin Bharti Mittal, founder and CEO of Hike said, “This was an obvious one and we’re excited to bring it to the market so quickly. We’ve been in beta for a few months and the results have been really positive. We’re now excited to roll this out across our entire userbase.” Hike has over 100 million users on its platform, 95 percent of whom are based in India.