The Room feature on WhatsApp allows you to make video calls with up to 50 people. Here's what it's for and how to use it
A new feature has been on WhatsApp for a few weeks now, but few people have seen it. The developers themselves did not want to sponsor it more than much despite the fact that it is very useful and allows you to do something that is not possible on WhatsApp: video calls up to a maximum of 50 people. We're talking about the Room feature, released by WhatsApp for a while now and that is hidden within the menus of the application.
To reach it you need to make at least a couple of clicks and this complicates the lives of users a bit. But what is the Room feature on WhatsApp for? To create "rooms" on Facebook Rooms, a platform of the Menlo Park company launched during the lockdown period and that allows you to make video calls and video conferences up to a maximum of 50 people. In practice, thanks to the integration on WhatsApp, users can make group video calls exceeding the limit of 8 people imposed by the application, already increased a few months ago to shorten the distance during the period of the pandemic. Here's what it's for and how to use the Room feature.
What the Room feature on WhatsApp is for
The Room feature is designed to increase the limit of users who can participate in a group video call, blocked so far to eight people. Using the tool, this limit increases up to 50 people, but you need to use Facebook Rooms, the blue social platform created specifically for video conferencing.
To access Facebook Rooms, in addition to having a link to access the video call, you need to have the Messenger app or alternatively an account on Facebook.
How to use the Room feature on WhatsApp
The operation of the Room tool is very simple, although you need to know where the developers have placed the feature. Here are the steps you need to follow to make video calls on WhatsApp for up to 50 people.
There are two methods to use the Room feature. The first is to open WhatsApp, press on the Calls tab and then to click on the camera icon present in the bottom right corner. Alternatively, you can open a conversation and tap on the Attach icon (in the shape of curly brackets) and then on Room (to make room for this tool, the Camera has been eliminated).
At this point, after selecting Room, a message will appear on the screen explaining what the tool is and how it works. You have to tap on "Continue in Messenger" and from this moment on you will exit WhatsApp and log into Facebook Messenger and apply Facebook's terms and practices.
Once you open Facebook Messenger you will have to tap on "Create room as (your name)" and you will get a link to share with all the people you want to invite to the group video call.
How to get the Room feature on WhatsApp
The new tool is already available in the application. In case you can't find it, you need to update the app. You can do it from the Google Play Store or the App Store.