Facebook Messenger Supports 50 Users In A Video Call; Whatsapp Allows 8 Users In Private Video Call
According to Facebook, WhatsApp will soon let you video and voice calls with up to eight people simultaneously, which is double the existing number of participants.
With the extended lockdown, WFH is in fashion, so is the video calling software.
So far, Zoom is the main beneficiary, but now Facebook also wants more of the video calling market and has introduced a new tool called Messenger Rooms.
What Facility Does It offer?
So far, the popular instant messaging platform currently lets you video and voice calls with up to four people.
Although, the news isn’t very surprising because the functionality is already available now on beta versions of WhatsApp for both Android and iOS.
So, it confirms it will be rolling out for all devices soon — not every feature that’s in beta becomes official, so an official confirmation is always nice.
To be precise, it’s coming as soon as next week.
Also, the confirmation comes alongside a couple of other announcements that Facebook is making today.
that includes the launch of Messenger Rooms, its dedicated video calling tool that lets you video and voice calls with up to 50 people simultaneously.
Although these Messenger Rooms won’t be completely private, WhatsApp video and voice calls with up to eight people, WILL be end-to-end encrypted “so no one else can view or listen to your private conversation, not even WhatsApp.”
Basically, end-to-end encryption is one of the main USPs of WhatsApp.
Further, Facebook is working to bring the security protocol to Messenger and Instagram Direct, so users will potentially be able to cross-platform chat across all these services one day, it’s easier said than done.
Although, Facebook is quick to point out why Messenger Rooms can’t be end-to-end encrypted.
They explained, “There are significant challenges to providing end-to-end encryption for video calling with large groups of people,”.
Possibly, this would be one of the reasons why Facebook had to launch a dedicated tool for en masse video calling rather than simply bumping up the participant count on WhatsApp to a 50, which is its most popular instant messaging platform.
How Does It Work?
In the case of WhatsApp, you can start video and voice calling with up to eight people right now if you want.
Simply, you’ll have to use the beta version of WhatsApp on either Android and iOS.
For making a video call with up to eight people, your WhatsApp must be running version 2.20.133 on Android and version 2.20.50.25 on iOS.
The other condition is, the other participants that you’re looking to video and voice call, must also have the same beta version of WhatsApp running on their devices.
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