X now offers audio and video calling functionality to all users. Previously, this was only available to Premium subscribers. With this, the social media platform aims to compete with apps like WhatsApp or Apple’s FaceTime.
The audio and video message features were limited to only X Premium users, but now they will become available to all X accounts. The new functionality is built into Direct Messaging and works similarly to the audio and video functionality of well-known messaging apps from X’s competitors.
Users of the X app for iOS will additionally see incoming calls on their lock screen. This is by integrating the feature with the iOS CallKit API.
Blocking possible
This new feature has raised a lot of commotion among X users, especially since they do not want to be “called” by anybody. However, the functionality can be limited to calls from contacts selected by the end users or completely disabled. The latter can be done via the Settings & Privacy menu.
The functionality is present in the latest version of the various X apps.