Social Media giant Facebook has been always trying to update its things and introducing new features to their apps. Many communication apps are growing enormously during this lockdown. There were some security concerns for some apps like Zoom. Now, Facebook has hit the Zoom platform by introducing updates to the Facebook Messenger app.
Earlier, Facebook messenger had a video call option but it was limited to only few members. The new update gives you the option to talk with the 50 people at a time!. Also, a Facebook account was a mandatory option to have a video chat but now it’s not like that. Even a person who doesn’t have a Facebook account can also have a video chat. Facebook account is mandatory only for the host who is handling meetings.
As said before one can host 50 people at a time in a video chat and who don’t have a Facebook account can also join the meeting room. Once the room is created, the invitation link is sent to the people whom you wish to be in the room. They can just click on the link to join the room. More importantly Messenger rooms have no time limit. In the Zoom app there is a time limit for meetings, in this matter Facebook stands apart.
Features:
Some of the things users can do once they join the room:
- They can play with AR effects
- Immersive backgrounds and mood lighting
- The host of the room can lock the room if they wish that no one else should enter the room
- Also he can control who can see the room and join it.
- The host can remove any member of the room at any point of time
- Also, users can leave the room whenever they want
AR effects: Augmented Reality is an interactive experience of a real-world environment where the objects that reside in the real world are enhanced by computer-generated perceptual information.
However, the rooms are not end to end encrypted because there are certain challenges in providing such encryption for video calling with larger groups. Facebook says that it will resolve this problem as soon as possible. The rooms are encrypted between participants and Facebook servers. Also, the company promises that it won’t watch or listen to the video chats. Facebook Messenger Rooms is rolling out in some countries this week and will soon expand globally.
Facebook is also adding live streaming features to both Facebook and Instagram. More importantly considering the social cause a donate button is given in the live chat so, users can raise money while live streaming. Instagram users can post their live chat as an IGTV video once they are done with live streaming.