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WhatsApp To Allow 50 Participants In Group Calls Soon

new group call button

WhatsApp will shortly raise the limit of eight participants for group calls to 50 people, but the calls will not work as before. The feature is said to work through the integration of the rooms that the company has recently launched.

This is now reported by the WhatsApp Beta Info and refers to the extension of the group call function via Messenger Rooms. WhatsApp parent company Facebook announced Messenger Rooms a few weeks ago. You can create a room directly in the Facebook Messenger app or the Facebook app and then invite people to participate in a video call. This also works if you don’t have a Facebook account. The rooms can accommodate up to 50 people.

Approval could come soon

Facebook had already announced that WhatsApp would also receive this “rooms” function, as would Portal and Instagram Direct. However, there was no official launch schedule. Now it is said that the update is imminent. Since WhatsApp was also very quick with the release of the group function with up to eight participants, it should not be long before the announcement of the “Rooms” support.

Recently, WhatsApp confirmed that usage has increased since the onset of the corona crisis. On average, over 15 billion minutes of calls were made with WhatsApp calls every day. How large the proportion of group discussions with several participants was, however, is not known. The calls are always protected with end-to-end encryption. According to WhatsApp, the new group calls can also be used with slow network conditions and simple hardware, so that no users are excluded.

App updates required

If you currently want to use the group calls with up to eight people, you must first ensure that you have updated to the latest smartphone app version. Only with version 2.20.50 for iOS and version 2.20.141 for Android is the possible number of people for group calls extended to eight. You can make the group calls as a voice or video call and then simply select up to seven participants from the contacts.