After just a couple of weeks from the release of the last Beta, another updated Beta version of WhatsApp for Windows Phone is available. This new 2.16.62 version of WhatsApp for Windows Phone not only brings the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, but adds some nice and interesting changes. For example the call button, that now has a new icon.  This button, which with the Beta version 2.16.44 had been moved on the top right corner of the screen, has been also further revamped and now shows a new look.

And that’s not all. Beta version 2.16.62 adds also new options that allow users to listen to voice notes in call mode. For the moment this latest Beta of WhatsApp for Windows Phone is available only to those users who have access to the private beta testing program, but we are confident that these new features will soon be released in a stable version. These last two Betas have significantly improved the performance of WhatsApp on Windows Phone devices, and, along with a better look, the app now allows users even to send and receive documents. And certainly much more will come.

We already know that WhatsApp has become the most popular instant messaging app in the world, and its one billion monthly active users confirm the growing success of the Facebook-owned app. The competition is tough, and the battle with other messaging services such as Telegram and Viber is fierce. And it seems that Google wants to play its role in the field of instant messaging, launching a brand new chat service.

This new service is called Allo, and it seems to be Google reply  to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Using Google’s words, Allo “lets you communicate with anyone in your phonebook—both Android and iOS.”  The service will use a massive database created thanks to Google’s dominant Internet search engine and will predict automatically how you might want to respond to a text and will also collect other information that could be relevant to an ongoing chat.

The announcement was given on Wednesday, during the annual developers conference that this year was held not far from Google’s headquarters in California. There’s no doubt that Google is a giant, but after all the recent improvements it’s evident that WhatsApp intends to stay on top.