WhatsApp has announced the release of a new feature to better connect large groups on its platform. The app now enables groups to start voice chats, bypassing the limit set on group calls while also being less disruptive to group members.
Both video and voice calls in groups are limited to 32 participants, with groups bigger than that having to manually choose which users to include under that threshold. But with voice chats, the feature can include between 33 to a whopping 128 participants, which is a significant improvement but still significantly short of the 1,024 member limit for WhatsApp groups.
Unlike calls, voice chats won’t ring for every member but instead they will appear as notifications that anyone can join and leave at any time, with controls on the top of the chat to mute or hang up. It’s only available on your primary device, so you won’t be able to join or start group voice chats through linked devices. The voice chats will automatically end if everyone has left or no one joins the first or last person for 60 minutes.
Voice chats will rolling out globally starting with groups of 33 people or more. As with most of WhatsApp’s features, it’s end-to-end encrypted by default.
(Source: Meta Press Release)
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