WhatsApp announces huge improvements to calling across all platforms

Whether you use WhatsApp on the desktop, or on your mobile device, there are a raft of changes and improvements coming to enhance the call experience.

Rolling out over the next few weeks, the changes include support for video calls with up to 32 people across all devices. There is also the arrival of sharing audio when screen sharing, and a switch to the new, more efficient codec means that you can expect higher call quality even when connectivity is poor.

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Meta says of the audio improvements: "We recently launched MLow codec which improves call reliability. Calls made on mobile devices benefit from improved noise and echo cancellation, making it easier to have calls in noisy environments, and video calls have higher resolution for those with faster connections. Audio is crisper overall, even if you have poor network connectivity or are using an older device".

In addition to this and the audio sharing and increase in participants, group calls also benefit fro a much-needed speaker spotlight feature to make it clear who is talking.

In a blog post, Meta draws attention to the key improvements to WhatsApp:

• Screen sharing with audio: Ideal for watching videos together, now when you share your screen, you can share your audio too
• More participants: Now you can have up to 32 people on a video call across all your devices
• Speaker spotlight: Easily see who’s talking with the speaker automatically highlighted and appearing first on screen

Meta says that the improvements are rolling out gradually over the coming weeks, although there are no details about which regions are being prioritized.