What you need to know
- Elon Musk announced X (Twitter) has gained video and voice calling through DMs for Premium subscription holders.
- While every user can receive calls, only Premium users can initiate a call to someone else.
- The feature is rolling out for those on iOS with those on Android having to wait a little longer before it's their turn.
After almost a year of teasing the idea, Elon Musk announced an "early version" of a feature for DMs that has now rolled out.
As spotted by Gizmodo, X (formerly Twitter) is rolling out "video and audio calling" for Premium users on the platform. Since this is an early variant of the feature, there isn't much to really dive into. What we do know is turning on the feature within your direct message settings will let users select who can call them.
A newly created support page for the feature states, "All accounts are able to receive calls." However, this is a Premium-based feature, and it's been stated that only those users can actually call someone on top of receiving calls from other subscription holders.
Calls are also open by default to those you follow and those saved in your address book if you've previously given the app access to that information. The page adds that for someone to call you, they must have sent you a DM at least once.
Early version of video & audio calling on 𝕏 https://t.co/aFI3VujLMhOctober 25, 2023
With the feature being accessible by heading into the app's Settings > Privacy & Safety > Direct Messages > Enable Audio & Video Calling, Musk adds it's "still a beta product, but it is promising."
Lastly, the feature has arrived for iOS users ahead of Android. The support page's mention of the latter suggests it'll arrive "soon."
X CEO Elon Musk teased his vision for bringing video and voice calling to the platform back in November 2022. This idea was wrapped in his plans to make X's direct messaging much more private and secure for users interested in taking part. Musk had initiated discussions with Signal's creator and former CEO Moxie Marlinspike about bringing a strong level of encryption for user's DMs.
Meanwhile, other dealings within X's atmosphere involve its latest experimental choice of charging new users $1 per month to combat bots. This has spurred whispers that if the platform observes positivity with its test in the Philippines and New Zealand, it could spread to more regions in a more concrete form.
Despite X standing against the idea that this new method is simply another way to make money, it could likely arrive as another reason for people to continue abandoning the platform altogether.
