Need a new way to video call your friends? WhatsApp is raising the user limit for video calls from four to eight, making it a more viable alternative to services like Zoom and Skype for large group chats

As revealed by WABetaInfo (via 9to5Google), the latest beta versions of WhatsApp for iOS and Android allow up to eight users on a single video or voice call However, all users must be on the same version, so you will need to either have all of your friends download the beta version or wait until this feature is added to the regular WhatsApp application in the near future

To take advantage of this new feature, all participants must have the beta version 2205025 of the iOS application (available from TestFlight) or the beta version 220133 of the Android application To initiate a call, select the desired participants from the Call tab, or press the Call button in a group chat of 8 or fewer people

Doubling the number of potential video call users would be an improvement, but would not make much difference compared to other popular video calling services: Skype offers up to 50 users on the same call, while Google Hangouts and Zoom, with paid versions of their services allow up to 250 users [I wouldn't move business calls to WhatsApp anytime soon However, for personal calls with large families or groups of friends, this expanded limit will be a major benefit once the stable version of the app is released