Even as debate rages around the globe on Facebook-controlled WhatsApp’s new privacy guidelines and with the Indian government and courts specifically demanding they be rolled back or not implemented in India, the company said it was introducing calls through its desktop app.

“We’re excited to announce that private and secure one-to-one voice and video calls are now available on WhatsApp’s desktop app.

Throughout the last year we’ve seen significant increases in people calling one another on WhatsApp, often for long conversations,” the company said on its website.

Pointing out that voice and video calls on WhatsApp will remain end-to-end encrypted, which WhatsApp claimed it too cannot hear or see, it said the desktop app feature could be expanded to “include group voice and video calls in the future.”

What prompted WhatsApp to introduce this new facility?

“Last New Year’s Eve, we broke the record for the most calls ever made in a single day with 1.4 billion voice and video calls. With so many people still apart from their loved ones, and adjusting to new ways of working, we want conversations on WhatsApp to feel as close to in-person as possible, regardless of where you are in the world or the technology you’re using,” the company explained.

Answering on a bigger screen makes it easier to work with colleagues, see family more clearly on a bigger canvas or free up the hands to move around a room while talking.

“To make desktop calling more useful, we made sure it works seamlessly for both portrait and landscape orientation, appears in a resizable standalone window on your computer screen, and is set to be always on top so you never lose your video chats in a browser tab or stack of open windows,” the company said on its website.

The desktop feature would work both on Windows and Mac.