Meta’s social media juggernaut, WhatsApp, is set to revolutionize video calls with its latest feature update, allowing users to seamlessly share their screens while engaged in conversations. The news came directly from Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who took to both his Facebook and Instagram profiles to share the exciting development. With this strategic enhancement, Meta is strategically positioning itself to challenge established video-conferencing giants like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Skype. While the feature has already undergone testing with Android beta users over the past few weeks, it is now being progressively rolled out to the global user base.
Zuckerberg himself shared an image showcasing the revamped user interface of the new screen-sharing feature, resembling the layouts familiar from Google Meet and Zoom. The primary focus is on the shared content, occupying the lion’s share of the display, while fellow call participants are displayed in compact rectangular tiles on the right-hand side. Users can initiate screen sharing by simply tapping on the arrow icon denoting the ‘share’ option.
In tandem with this innovation, the Meta-powered network is also introducing Landscape mode for video calls, complementing the existing Portrait mode. This strategic move aims to enhance screen sharing convenience by optimizing the legibility of text and graphics on smartphones – the predominant device for WhatsApp usage. Notably, Meta has commenced the gradual rollout of these features across iOS, Android, and Windows devices. If you don’t yet have access to these features, fear not; they will be making their way to you shortly as part of the phased deployment strategy.
In a recent stride towards versatility, WhatsApp introduced an additional feature allowing users to send short video messages. This functionality, accessible through the microphone icon typically employed for sending voice messages, now seamlessly transitions to a video camera icon. A simple tap on this icon empowers users to send video messages of up to 60 seconds in a circular format within the chat interface, further expanding the richness of interaction on the platform.
