WhatsApp has become even better at handling large groups, even in video chats.
The popular secure messaging app recently launched its long-awaited Communities feature and the ability to participate in video chats for 32 persons.
These two features are now available to download and install in some regions, with the two features becoming available in the coming months for those who don't have them.
WhatsApp Communities Details
WhatsApp mentioned in its latest blog post that it would launch its Communities feature today in some regions and the coming months for those that don't have the appropriate update yet.
You may remember that Whatsapp previously revealed the feature's capabilities in mid-April, which was in its beta testing phase at the time.
Not much has changed since then and now based on their features. According to WhatsApp's blog post, its new Communities feature brings together separate groups under one large-scale umbrella with a structure that best fits them, per CNET.
Once a user is in a community, they can switch between available groups whenever and several new things, like receiving updates from the Community's admins and organizing smaller discussion groups.
Meanwhile, Community admins gain control over which groups can be included in the Community aside from sending updates across all groups under it.
These large-scale group chats still feature WhatsApp's signature level of privacy and security, which allegedly can't be found anywhere else. WhatsApp said it aims to raise the standard for how people in an organization or a community communicate by providing this level of privacy and security.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that WhatsApp's Communities feature makes groups better as it enables "sub-groups, multiple threads, announcement channels and more." He also guarantees that all messages sent within the Community will be secured and end-to-end encrypted so they can remain private.
Unfortunately, these Communities could become a breeding ground for misinformation due to how secure WhatsApp's encryption is. According to Engadget, WhatsApp has few moderation tools for Community admins to use to combat misinformation due to the app's focus on encryptions, making it more difficult to prevent and staunch the flow of misinformation in a Community.
Additionally, users in a Community need not worry about their phone numbers being revealed to everyone in it. Tech Crunch reports that a user's phone number will only appear in the group chats they are already a member of. Anyone not in the same group chat can't see their number even if they are in the same Community.
WhatsApp's Other New Features
Aside from the Communities feature, WhatsApp also added the ability to create in-chat polls, 32-person video calls, and group chats capable of hosting 1024 users in the latest update.
WhatsApp previously revealed it is working on a feature to allow 32 persons to participate in a single video call in late April alongside the introduction of its Communities feature.
In addition to these features being usable in any group, WhatsApp believes that these features will be helpful for communities.
