Facebook’s WhatsApp seems to be getting more serious about taking advantage of the video conferencing surge caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Facebook is currently testing a new feature that will pose a direct challenge to the likes of Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, and other video conferencing apps out there.
Nearly two weeks ago, WhatsApp officially rolled out eight-person video calls for iOS and Android users globally, to allow groups of friends and family to connect remotely during the lockdown.
WhatsApp now looks to be going one step further after researchers at WABetaInfo spotted that menu options in the beta version of WhatsApp Web contain shortcuts.
Those shortcuts are meant to direct users to the newly released Facebook Messenger Rooms, where users can create a room and invite people to join, or create a room directly from WhatsApp. This new feature will give users the ability to make video calls with up to 50 participants on the desktop.
Facebook is actively seeking to make Messenger Rooms work across its Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram apps in the future.
Users will even be able to start and share rooms on Facebook via the News Feed, as well as Groups and Events.
At this stage, it is not clear whether WhatsApp’s support of Messenger Rooms for desktop users will be rolled out to WhatsApp’s mobile apps.
Source: Silicon UK