Facebook Messenger Rooms offers unlimited video calls with up to 50 participants

As the global coronavirus pandemic has locked down a quarter of the world’s population, video calling apps have become the primary form of socialising for people across the globe. Zoom, a video calling platform, has seen a surge in its userbase. However, Zoom has been ridden with security and privacy woes.

Now, Facebook is looking to capitalise on Zoom’s issues with a new group video chat feature called Messenger Rooms. As explained in a blog post, Messenger Rooms is not a separate app but a tool that can be launched from the Facebook or Messenger app.

While Facebook Messenger already has a video chat function, the total number of participants is limited. Additionally, users who wish to join a video call require a Facebook account. With Messenger Rooms, up to 50 people can join a video call even if they do not have a Facebook account. Moreover, there is no time limit on calls and users can enter a room by simply clicking on a link.

Once you join a room, you can play around with virtual backgrounds. A user who creates a Room can remove people at any time as well as lock it to stop new users from entering. You can also leave a room at any time. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a live stream that Messenger Rooms would be rolling out globally in the coming weeks.

It is worth noting that Messenger Rooms does not feature end-to-end encryption, because of “significant challenges” to providing such encryption for video calling with massive groups of people. However, Facebook says it is actively working to fix this in the future while promising that it does not watch or listen to audio or video calls.