Facebook owned WhatsApp recently released the 8 person video call feature for its beta app. And now Facebook has announced that the 8 person private video call feature is going live from next week for everyone. This will be made available for both Android and iOS users. The present limit for video calls on WhatsApp is 4 people.
The app was reported to be working on increasing the number of users who could be on one video call a while ago. The feature would come as a boon to many users during the ongoing pandemic who have resorted to other apps to keep up with social circles larger than 4 people. These include video conferencing apps like Zoom and Google Duo, which support more users than 4 for quite a while now.
This confirmation from Facebook comes with the announcement of Facebook Messenger Rooms. This is just an expanded version of the video calling feature of the Facebook Messenger. But video calls on Facebook Messenger was limited in terms of people who can join and everyone needed a Facebook account.
But with Messenger Rooms, the upper limit of the people who can join in has been increased to 50. Besides this, those that don’t have a Facebook account can also join in. The person who creates a Messenger room will have a link generated which can be shared and used to join the room. Another big feature is that there will be no time limit to the video calls made from Messenger rooms. Users can join a Messenger Room using the Messenger app.
Users will also be able to use AR effects and new features like immersive backgrounds and mood lighting. The owner of a Room will retain control and can choose who can see and join the room. They can even eject people from the room at any time they want. The Rooms can be locked as well to restrict the people who enter it. Rooms can also be created through a Facebook group and it can be joined by the members of the Group.
