Photo: WhatsApp
WhatsApp is introducing key improvements to video (and voice) calling on its platform for a better experience. As part of the upgrade, you can now share audio while screen sharing.
Another notable change is having group video calls with up to 32 participants on your phone or desktop. This is the same limit as FaceTime.
Screen sharing in WhatsApp gets a useful upgrade
WhatsApp is among the most popular messaging services outside the US, with over a billion users. Meta is constantly improving its messaging service with new features and changes, turning it into a viable iMessage alternative.
Thanks to the steady improvements, WhatsApp has made inroads in the US messaging market, registering “double-digit growth in message and daily users,” as revealed by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his WhatsApp channel in late April. The latest round of WhatsApp improvements focuses on video calls, improving their quality and experience.
The enhanced screen sharing with audio will enable you to watch videos or play games with your friends while on a video call. Apple already allows screen sharing with audio on FaceTime calls.
Just last month, Meta rolled out a fresh design for WhatsApp’s iPhone app.
WhatsApp video calls get a quality boost
Additionally, WhatsApp will now automatically highlight the person talking in a group video call for easy identification. Meta has switched to a new MLow codec for better video and audio quality. The company says this will provide crisper audio on low-end devices and poor network connections. You can read more about the MLow codec and the improvement it brings on the FB Engineering blog. Overall, noise levels and echo cancellation are also better than before.
If you have access to speedy mobile data or Wi-Fi, your WhatsApp video calls will use a higher resolution and look much better.
All these improvements to video and audio calls on WhatsApp are coming to all platforms, including desktops.
