WhatsApp has made some big design changes over the past couple of years. However, most of the improvements come with little quality-of-life changes, and one such change will soon come to WhatsApp on smartphones.
WhatsApp will get an in-app dialer soon
WhatsApp seems to be working on an in-app dialer that will make it easier to call numbers that are not saved in the contact list. The screenshot below shows how that dialer looks. WABetaInfo spotted this change in the latest beta version (v2.24.9.28) of the app.
As you can see above, it is a simple dialer with the T9 keypad in the lower half of the screen and a green dial button below the keypad. If you want to make a voice or video call to someone over WhatsApp, you need to save their number in your contact list and then make the call. You won't have to go through that process with the new feature.
WhatsApp made a similar change to messaging in the past. You can already message numbers that aren't saved in your contacts list. That change may have made life a little easier for a lot of people, and the company might have received positive feedback for that change. That may have encouraged the company to bring a similar change to calling.