WhatsApp gets new video calling features; max participants increased for Windows and Mac users

Last month, WhatsApp introduced several new features to its messenger such as redesigned user interface, refreshed illustrations and creative animation for a more playful aesthetic look.

Now, the Meta-owned company is bringing more utility features to video calls on WhatsApp. Earlier, WhatsApp video calling featured different limitations for phones (32 persons max), Windows PCs (16 participants max) and Macs (8 people max). Now, it has made a uniform ceiling of 32 people for video calling across all categories of devices.

"Since we brought Calling to WhatsApp back in 2015, we’ve continued to improve it by introducing group calls, video calls, and multi-platform support. Today we have several updates that will make calls across your devices even bigger and better, rolling out over the next few weeks," WhatsApp said.

WhatsApp is also bringing a new value-added feature 'speaker spotlight'. During the call, the messenger app automatically detects who is speaking and highlights them, making them appear first on the screen to let other participants know who is talking in the call.

Another notable update is the screen sharing with audio support. It will be ideal for watching videos together during video calls.

WhatsApp video calling limit increased to 32 participants across different categories of devices.

In a related development, WhatsApp is testing a generative Artificial Intelligence (gen AI)-a powered tool that can help users create personalised profile photos.

WhatsApp will offer a new tab, Create AI Profile Photo, in the Profile Photo section at the top of Settings. Here, users can describe themselves through text inputs. Based on this, it can generate a human face with facial attributes such as hairstyle, skin tone, eyebrows, nose, lips and ears.

Recently, Whatsapp introduced MLow codec. With this feature, calls made on mobile devices benefit from improved noise and echo cancellation. It helps deliver a clear voice across the other side even in noisy environments. It also works well during video calls with higher resolution for those with faster internet connections.

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