WhatsApp on Thursday announced several feature improvements related to video calling for mobile and desktop users. The participant limit for group video calls has been expanded across platforms, allowing up to 32 members to join the same call, up from the previous limit of just eight participants allowed on the WhatsApp desktop app. In addition to the expansion of the video calling feature, users can also share their audio when sharing their screen with other participants.
WhatsApp improves video calling across mobile and desktop apps
In a blog afterMeta’s instant messaging platform explained that the latest update will bring improvements to screen sharing on the app. When a user is watching videos with other participants while sharing their screen, they will also be able to share the audio that is playing, the company said.
WhatsApp also revealed an increase in the number of participants who can join video calls together. While up to 32 mobile users could join the calls, the number was previously limited to eight for users on the desktop apps. It has now been made uniform across all devices and up to 32 participants can be part of a video call, regardless of which platform a user is joining from.
There’s also a new ‘speaker spotlight’ feature being introduced, which will highlight the current speaker on a video call. In theory, this could be useful when attending large group video calls, allowing users to easily identify the speaker without having to go through the participant list.
WhatsApp says the new features will be available to users across mobile and desktop platforms in the coming weeks.
WhatsApp’s new codec for audio calls
In addition to video calling features, Meta Platforms also offer introduced a new tool that aims to improve call quality. The feature – known as Meta Low Bitrate (MLow) codec – helps compress the captured audio/video for efficient transmission over the internet, according to Meta.
While compression often comes at the cost of quality, Meta says the MLow codec is an upgrade over the previous open-source Opus codec and can improve audio quality, especially on slow connections. The codec was already available on other Meta platforms like Instagram and Messenger, and is now rolling out to WhatsApp.
