WhatsApp Adds New Features To Improve The Video Calling Experience
WhatsApp might be the single most constantly evolving app that I can point to, with each year bringing at least some kind of substantial update. We already saw a major UI overhaul this year, and now video calling is going to be getting richer than before. Let’s talk about the new features that are being introduced.
Video Calls Now Support Up To 32 People On All Platforms
When I heard this improvement, the first thing that popped into my head was “Couldn’t you always have 32 people on a video call?”. Apparently, that thought wasn’t wrong, as WhatsApp on mobile platforms has supported 32-person video calls for quite some time now. However, desktop platforms had it a bit different. Users on Windows could only have 16 participants and users on macOS had to make do with a measly 8.
Now, regardless of the platform that you’re video calling from, everything is in sync and you can have 32 participants on a call at once. This is especially important for desktop platforms as it makes it a more viable alternative to video conferencing options like Zoom and Google Meet (though these platforms still have a much higher limit with 100 participants allowed for standard accounts).
You Can Now Share Your Screen With Audio
Screen sharing is another feature that has been available when video calling on WhatsApp, but now, it’s getting a major change that improves how useful it is. You can now share your screen along with the audio from your device.
The most notable application of this that I can think of is the ability to have streaming parties with people by all watching the same content and having the sound follow through with it. Of course, streaming platforms are bound to kick against it instead of potentially having 31 other people piggybacking on a single subscription.
Of course, this can also be useful when trying to demonstrate something to your coworkers, though I imagine that’d come in a lot more useful from the desktop version of the app than the mobile one.
It’s Easier To See Exactly Who Is Talking
Most video-calling apps have some variant of this, but now Whatsapp gets it too: you’ll be able to more easily see who is speaking at a specific time because their window will be highlighted and placed first in the line. This will make it a lot easier to follow conversations by knowing exactly who made the comment that you’re about to tear into.
