Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
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Title: WhatsApp 'audio hangouts' are now open to group chats of any size

Date: Thu, 22 May 2025 19:45:04 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/social-media/whatsap...

WhatsApp is expanding its Discord-like voice chat feature so that group chats
of any size can talk to each other in real time. Unlike group calling, which
has existed on the app for years, real-time "audio hangouts" are more of a
drop-in feature that doesn't ring every member of the chat.

Voice chats also offer a bit more flexibility than a traditional call because
the interface doesn't take over your whole screen. That means you can still
follow along in the chat for new messages or keep an eye on any incoming
notifications.

Meta first introduced the feature in 2023, but for some reason limited it to
larger groups of 32 to 256 participants, which is likely a lot bigger than
the average group thread on the app. Now, though, WhatsApp users can start an
audio hangout in both smaller group chats and even larger ones. WhatsApp
supports groups of up to 1,024 participants, which sounds extremely chaotic
even for texting, much less audio.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/social-media/whatsap...
group-chats-of-any-size-194504841.html?src=rss

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