One of the most used functions of WhatsApp, especially since 2020, is video conferencing.. This communication system, until the end of the last decade, had not finished permeating the common private users, more given to voice communications (whether in calls or through voice notes) and text communications. Whether due to lack of habit, privacy, modesty or for any other reason, despite the fact that they were within our reach, the number of users who used them was frankly a minority.
However, as a result of the confinements to which we were forced during the pandemic, video conferencing became very popular, since they offered us a more complete contact with our loved ones (family, friends, etc.) than the means that I have mentioned above. In this way, services such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and the like, which until then were exclusively associated with the professional environment, became part of many people’s daily lives. People who, in many cases, also discovered that other services they used regularly also had this function. Of course, to reduce formality, the concept of video conferencing evolved into that of video calls, which is actually the same, but sounds like something less associated with the professional environment.
Of course, these services, such as WhatsApp, were somewhat limited in terms of the maximum number of participants per video call, although fortunately its managers began to get their act together in this regard precisely in that periodwhere we started to see evidence (and then actual deployments) of large increases in the maximum number of participants that could join a video conference… sorry, a group video call.
With WhatsApp it happens, yes, that its app for Windows is usually quite behind what its peers offer for Android and iOS. I admit that I have never come to understand the reason for this. Perhaps it is that its usage fee is significantly lower? This is likely, but of course, it makes sense that it is, among other reasons, precisely because it is the furthest behind in the family. That is, the classic whiting situation that bites its tail.
However, in the end many of the features and improvements end up extending its reach. Thus, as we can read in WABetaInfo, Meta is already testing video calls of up to 32 people in WhatsApp for Windows. Currently available in beta version 2.2324.1.0, its deployment in tests is, yes, limited, so that only some users can begin to enjoy this increase in the maximum capacity of participants. It is expected, however, that through this same beta version (and of course, also later ones) more users will be able to access it in the future. There are no signs, yes, of when it will begin to reach users of the final version.
