WhatsApp seems to have removed the awfully placed 'quite voice call' button in groups

WhatsApp users can breathe a sigh of relief. It seems the recently added floating “quiet voice call” button, which many users found baffling and poorly placed, has been removed after a new update. This button, added to group chats, had caused some frustration for its awkward placement and unclear purpose.

The button appeared just above the last message in group chats, overlapping with crucial elements like the text itself and message read receipts. For many, it was easy to tap by accident, often while scrolling, leading to confusion and irritation. Reddit quickly filled with complaints, with users calling the feature everything from “useless” to “infuriating.”

Here’s a screenshot of the button shared on Reddit:

The button reportedly allowed users to start a voice call in a group without alerting all members — a silent call feature of sorts. This silent voice chat function isn’t exactly new. It first went live for large groups last year and slowly expanded to other groups too. However, the floating button recently popped up for many. Several users reported that pressing the button did nothing or resulted in glitches, like failed call notifications in their chats. Adding to the confusion, the feature wasn’t rolled out to all users, making it feel like an unfinished beta test forced onto the app’s main interface.

One Reddit user summed up the community’s frustration, saying, “Which genius at WhatsApp thought it was a good idea to put an icon over the latest chat message.” Others shared similar sentiments, with comments like:

I use WhatsApp to avoid calls, and they do this? (Source)

It’s really incredible that someone at Meta signed off on a button that hides the checkmarks from the most recent message, i.e. the one that you care about the checkmarks. What a clown show (Source)

While the intention behind the feature may have been to improve group communication, the execution left much to be desired. Users slammed WhatsApp for failing to consider user experience, with many drawing comparisons to other questionable updates from Meta apps.

Thankfully, the uproar didn’t go unnoticed. In the latest update, the button appears to have quietly disappeared. Users who noticed its absence expressed some relief. One comment on Reddit read, “We won. It just got removed.” Others chimed in with cautious optimism, hoping it wouldn’t make an unwelcome return. I was also not able to see the floating button in any group chat on the latest WhatsApp Beta.

For now, WhatsApp users can get back to scrolling through their group chats without accidentally initiating mysterious silent calls. Whether this removal is permanent or just a pause for reworking the feature remains to be seen.

That said, this isn’t the only thing WhatsApp users aren’t liking. Some have even criticized the “dancing” typing indicator that now shows up. So it’s clear the folks over at Meta need to work on improving the random UI tweaks with feedback from users.