WhatsApp Minimizable Video Call

✋ What is it?

This is an interaction that allows Whatsapp users to minimize a video call so they can keep interacting with other app functionalities like the chat itself.

🤲 How does this interaction or solution work?

Users who place a video call through WhatsApp will see a fully maximized view of the front camera. The user can swipe away the view to minimize it into a bubble that floats over the general app user interface chrome.

The user can now interact with the existing chat view, navigate back, open other conversation and perform in-app actions that are not necessarily related to the current call. A user can also move the bubble around by swiping it through the screen. This allows you to view elements of the user interface that could potentially get blocked by the floating call bubble.

This solution is also common in other Facebook apps like Facebook Messenger.

It also shares a lot of characteristics with Android's built-in Floating Widget functionality. This Android feature allows apps to float views and buttons over the general UI chrome of the phone, so users can multitask or perform cross-interactions like taking a screenshot or recording a screen.

🙌 How does this interaction or solution work?

Multitasking.

This solution allows users to perform different actions like retrieving information from a chat or continue other conversations without hanging up.

This solution also favors visibility since the floating bubble will still show the live-video coming from the call.