How to video chat on WhatsApp with up to eight people
Video calls are not new. It's just that the real sense is only now being felt. In the midst of a global pandemic, when growing numbers of people are forced to remain at home to help curb COVID-19's spread, video calling is your only viable choice to stay connected. You can call and write, of course, but the chance to see the other hand as well that is priceless.
by Niranjani Jesentha Kumari Prabagararaj
Updated: Apr 22, 2020 18:10 IST
Here's what you need to know
Coronavirus outbreak has led to the emergence of relatively new video calling services such as Zoom, even as traditional providers are starting to scale up their offerings to meet the growing demand. Participant count is one of the areas that is especially witnessing the transition. More and more users are flocking to apps now that would allow them to talk with more people on video.
Although anything like this has always made sense to companies and corporations, the new situation means that even the average folk now needs to video chat with more than one or two people at once the merrier.
Inspired by public demand and growing competition — India's go-to instant messaging platform also aims to increase the number of participants in video and voice calls. WhatsApp's latest public beta for both Android and iOS, first noticed by WEBetaInfo, now lets you call video and voice with up to eight people at the same time. That is their normal count double.
Here are the steps:
The important thing to note- the feature isn't out quite yet for everyone. This is limited to WhatsApp's new beta-version. This is Android version 2.20.133, and iOS version 2.20.50.25.
This means your WhatsApp has to run version 2.20.133 on Android and version 2.20.50.25 on iOS to be able to video call up to eight users. Also, the other participants you're looking for will have the same beta version of WhatsApp running on their devices as well.
The update is scheduled to roll out very early for all devices, which is when anyone will use it with no restrictions.
When you have the new beta version of WhatsApp running on your device, you can video and voice call up to eight people in two ways.
You can either head over to the Calls tab and pick the participants manually, or you can set up a group of eight (or fewer) people (preferably people you regularly chat with) and immediately start video and voice calling by pressing the call button.
