Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday announced a new feature that allows users to share their phone’s screen during video calls on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Announces Screen-Sharing Feature During Video Calls
With the addition of this new feature, the Meta-owned social media messaging platform aims to enhance the video-calling experience and take on traditional video conferencing apps, including Microsoft Meet, Google Meet, Zoom, and Apple’s FaceTime.
“We’re adding the ability to share your screen during a video call on WhatsApp,” the Meta CEO announced in a Facebook post and on his Instagram channel.
The screen sharing feature, which is cross-platform compatible, allows users to share a live view of their phone or computer screen during a video call for various purposes, such as sharing documents, photos, presentations, or even your shopping cart with contacts.
“Whether sharing documents for work, browsing photos with family, planning a vacation or shopping online with friends, or just helping grandparents with tech support – screen sharing lets you share a live view of your screen during the call,” the company said in a statement.
Further, users will have complete control over the screen-sharing feature, which means they can stop sharing content on their screen whenever they want.
The screen-sharing functionality, which has been in development for a few months now, was previously available to beta testers on WhatsApp’s Android, iOS, and Windows PC apps since May.
To access the feature, users must have the latest WhatsApp versions installed on their devices. During a video call, the users need to tap on the ‘Share’ icon at the bottom of the screen, following which they will be asked to grant screen share access.
Once access is granted, their screen will be live-streamed to the other participants on the video call. The host can then select whether to share a specific app or the entire screen with their contacts.
Currently, WhatsApp supports video calls with up to 32 participants, which can be helpful in a professional environment. The new screen-sharing feature is being rolled out to all users gradually and is expected to reach everyone in a few days.
The screen-sharing option also supports a Landscape mode for video calls in WhatsApp, which can be useful when sharing the screen from desktop platforms for a wider and more immersive viewing and sharing experience on smartphones.
