50-way video calls Messenger Rooms now available for some WhatsApp users

Facebook has been busy trying to get a slice of the Zoom video calling pie with the launch of Messenger Rooms, a video conferencing tool which support for up to 50 participants. As promised, links to Rooms are now appearing on WhatsApp. A few days ago, Messenger Rooms integration for WhatsApp was spotted on the web, so the foundations are obviously in place for a full rollout. If early testing goes well, this should be available to all WhatsApp users before too long.

As spotted by WABetaInfo, the beta versions of WhatsApp for Android and WhatsApp for iOS now feature shortcuts to Messenger Rooms, so users can jump straight from one app to the other. However currently, the links only appear to certain users in certain countries. It says that even if you switch to the beta version of WhatsApp, you won't necessarily see the newly added Messenger Rooms functionality.

Note that Messenger Rooms does everything you would expect a competent video calling application to do. Participants can join in even without a Facebook account, and there's the all-important support for virtual backgrounds too. WhatsApp itself is getting improved video calling features as well as support for 8-way video chats was just added while competitors like Google are upgrading their own video tools.

Source: techradar.com