Tag: whatsapp desktop

WhatsApp Announces Improved Video Calling Features for Mobile and Desktop Apps

WhatsApp announced several feature improvements related to video calling for mobile and desktop users on Thursday. The participant limit for group video calls has been expanded across platforms, allowing up to 32 members to join the same call, up from the previous limit of just eight participants allowed on the WhatsApp Desktop app. In addition to the expansion of the video calling feature, users can also share their audio when sharing their screen with other participants.

WhatsApp improves video calls across mobile and desktop apps

In a blog post, the Meta-owned instant messaging platform explained that the latest update will bring improvements to screen sharing on the app. When watching videos with other participants while sharing their screen, a user will also be able to share the audio playing, according to the company.

WhatsApp also revealed an increase in the number of participants who can join video calls together. While up to 32 mobile users could join the calls, the number was previously limited to eight for users on the desktop apps. It has now been made uniform across all devices and up to 32 participants can be part of a video, call irrespective of which platform a user is joining from.

A new ‘speaker spotlight’ feature will also be introduced, highlighting the current speaker on a video call. In theory, it could prove to be useful when attending video calls in large groups, enabling users to easily identify the speaker without requiring them to go through the participant list.

WhatsApp says the new batch of features will be rolled out to users across mobile and desktop platforms in the coming weeks.

WhatsApp’s new codec for audio calls

In addition to the video calling features, Meta Platforms also introduced a new tool which aims to improve the call quality. The feature – known as Meta Low Bitrate (MLow) codec – helps compress the audio/video captured for efficient transfer over the internet, according to Meta.

Although compression often comes at a cost of quality, Meta says the MLow codec is an upgrade over the previous open source Opus codec and can improve the audio quality, especially on slow-speed connections. This codec was already available on other Meta platforms such as Instagram and Messenger, and is now being rolled out to WhatsApp.

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WhatsApp Rolls Out Feature to Let Users Search Recent Groups via Contact Names: Details

WhatsApp has begun rolling out a feature to users of its desktop application, that will allow them to find recent groups by entering the name of a contact that is also part of the group. The feature is being rolled out to the latest stable WhatsApp Desktop version. Finding a group with an obscure name, or with special characters will also get a lot easier, thanks to this feature. For now, the change is visible for some users, and the ability to search for groups is expected to reach other users in the coming days.

The feature is intended to add more convenience for users who operate or are part of multiple WhatsApp groups. Searching for the groups using names of contacts who are part of those groups, means users no longer need to memorise the names of different groups.

The feature will be compatible with WhatsApp’s desktop version 2.2245.9 and above, according to a report by feature tracker WABetaInfo which first reported the feature was rolling out to users.

Owned by Meta, WhatsApp reportedly has over two billion users from over 100 countries and is touted as the most widely used messaging app.

The end-to-end encrypted platform competes with apps like Telegram and WeChat among others.

Over the years, WhatsApp has integrated useful features on its platform, including the ability to pay other users from within a chat. The messaging service is also working on a plethora of smaller, but useful updates to the app.

The messaging app had recently rolled out Polls alongside ‘Communities’, a feature that allows users to have separate groups under one umbrella to organise group conversations.

WhatsApp is also working on bringing a different layout to eight emoji on the app while also looking to launch 21 new emojis that are currently are under development, according to the feature tracker. Three large heart emoji will be released to in a future update of WhatsApp beta for Android, WABetaInfo previously reported.

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WhatsApp May Let You Export Chat Backups From Google Drive in Future

WhatsApp is found to be working on an option to let users export their chat backups stored on Google Drive. The update would allow users to have their chat stored offline. The change has been reported to be in the works for Android users at this moment. Separately, WhatsApp has been spotted testing the ability to let its business users view the information of the device from where a message has been sent through their accounts. This will be useful for businesses given that they have multi-device support on WhatsApp — just like regular users.

According to a report by WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo, the instant messaging app is working on the option to let users export their chat backups from Google Drive to the local storage of their devices. The backup is said to have full chat history, including messages, images, videos, and other media files.

WABetaInfo has shared a screenshot to give us a glimpse of the feature that is yet to be available even to beta testers. The screenshot shows that users would get an Export backup option in the Chat backup settings to let them move their backups from Google Drive.

WhatsApp is spotted working on an ‘Export backup’ option for Android users
Photo Credit: WABetaInfo

 

It is reported by the source that in addition to allowing users to export chat backups, WhatsApp would introduce an option to import backups on Google Drive.

Earlier this year, WABetaInfo reported that WhatsApp backups on Google Drive would get limited storage allocation. The new discovery in that scenario would allow users to import their chat backups if they reach the particular threshold on Google Drive and store their backed-up data offline on their device. Users may also be able to upload their chat backups back to Google Drive when they have adequate space available.

Exact details on when WhatsApp would enable the option to export backups from Google Drive are yet to be revealed. It is also unclear whether WhatsApp would prefer allowing iOS users to export their backups stored on iCloud in a similar fashion.

In addition to the export backups option, WhatsApp has started testing the ability for its business users to let them view device information about their outgoing messages if there are other linked devices accessing the same account.

WABetaInfo reports that the change has been rolled out through WhatsApp Business for Android beta version 2.22.13.10 and WhatsApp Business for iOS beta version 22.12.0.73. It is also said to be in testing for businesses accessing the app using a desktop.

A couple of screenshots shared by WABetaInfo show that users will be able to see the name of the linked device from where the message was sent in the chats thread.

WhatsApp is testing an ability to let business users see from where they’ve sent a message
Photo Credit: WABetaInfo

 

In the case of iOS, the screenshot suggests that users would see the word ‘Admin’ alongside the name of the device to indicate that the message was sent by a particular device.

The change is useful for businesses who are using the same account on multiple devices. It would allow them to track the device used for sending a particular message.

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WhatsApp Spotted Working on Status Reply Indicator, Ability to Let Businesses Set Up Cover Photos on Desktop

WhatsApp is found to be working on a status reply indicator that users will see when they receive replies to their status updates. The feature is said to be currently under development and not yet available even to beta testers, though it is likely to be available to users on Android and iOS as well as desktop in the future. In addition to the status reply indicator, WhatsApp has been spotted bringing the ability to set up a cover photo when using the instant messaging app on a desktop.

According to a report by WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is developing the status reply indicator to make it easier for users to know when their contacts have responded to a recent status update. The indicator helps distinguish a status reply from general message replies directly on the Chats screen.

WABetaInfo has shared a screenshot to suggest how the indicator will appear. The screenshot is said to have taken from a recent WhatsApp Desktop beta version, though the feature is expected to be available to beta testers on Android and iOS in the coming future.

WhatsApp has been spotted introducing a status reply indicator
Photo Credit: WABetaInfo

 

Alongside the status reply indicator, WhatsApp has been spotted introducing the ability to let business users add cover photos to their company’s profile when using WhatsApp Desktop.

WABetaInfo, in a separate report, mentioned that the feature to set up cover photos has been in development on WhatsApp for Desktop beta. The feature would allow businesses to have a custom cover photo — just like how Facebook lets users have a different cover on their profiles and pages on the platform.

WhatsApp is found to have an option to set up a cover photo in place for business users on desktop
Photo Credit: WABetaInfo

 

In February, WhatsApp was spotted working on the ability to let businesses add cover photos using WhatsApp Business for iOS. It was launched for some beta testers in April. The feature is also expected to be available to users on WhatsApp Business for Android in the future.

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