Video calling gets better on mobile and desktop apps
a blog Post The instant messaging platform owned by Meta in 2018 revealed that the new update will bring improvements to screen sharing on the app. According to the company, when users watch a video with other participants while sharing their screen, they will also be able to share the audio that is playing.
WhatsApp also revealed an increase in the number of participants who can join a video call simultaneously. Up to 32 mobile users could join the call, up from 8 previously for users on the desktop app. This has now been made consistent across all devices and up to 32 participants can be part of a video call, regardless of the platform the other users are joining from.
A new ‘Speaker Spotlight’ feature will also be introduced, which will highlight the current speaker on a video call. This can prove to be essential when joining a large group video call, allowing users to easily identify the speaker without having to go through the list of participants. WhatsApp says that the new batch of features will be rolled out to users on mobile and desktop platforms in the coming weeks.
WhatsApp’s new codec for audio calls
Apart from the video calling features, the Meta platform also introduced a new tool aimed at improving call quality. According to Meta, this feature, known as the Meta Low Bitrate (MLow) codec, helps in capturing the captured audio/video for easy transfer over the internet.
Although compression often comes at the cost of quality, Meta says the MLow codec is an upgrade to the previous open source Opus codec and can improve audio quality, especially on slow connections. This codec was already available on other Meta platforms like Instagram and Messenger and is now being made available on WhatsApp as well.