Last week we reported that WhatsApp is working to increase the limit of Group Calls on its platform. Now just a few days later, WhatsApp has started rolling out the increased group calling limit to WhatsApp beta users on Android and iPhone.
The new beta versions now support up to eight participants in a group video or voice call. The messenger currently allows four participants in a group call.
As per a report by WABetaInfo, up to eight participants can now join a WhatsApp call and the new group calling participant limit is now live on WhatsApp beta version 2.20.133 on Android and 2.20.50.25 on iOS. Since this feature is currently rolled out for beta users, it is expected that the feature will be rolling out to the stable version as well in coming days.
As per a screenshot provided by the report, WhatsApp will notify the caller if they aren’t on the latest version and ask him/her to select fewer participants. “Several people are using an old version of WhatsApp. To start calls with 8 proper, all participants need the latest version of WhatsApp” reads the screenshot.
To start a group call on WhatsApp, you need to open the group and go to calls tab. Click on the call button on the top right and select the ‘New group call’ option. Now, you can select the participants and start a video/audio call. You can add up to 7 participants which will make a total of 8 people including you.
If there are more than eight participants in a group, WhatsApp will ask users, which contacts you wish to call. The participants who are not saved in your address book will not be added in the call. However, if there are less than eight participants, the app will connect to all the participants at once.
In the times of coronavirus, this new feature is a warm welcome for the WhatsApp users, as the COVID-19 has seen many nations essentially lockdown and come to a standstill to avoid the spread of the illness. With this, the popular Messaging app will take on other video conferencing apps like Houseparty and Google Duo.