Chat with more people for free as new tools launched

You can now have video chats with more people for free after Facebook, Google and Whatsapp all improved their existing tools, or launched new ones.

The companies have released these services earlier than planned after being surprised by the success of Zoom, which is being used by millions of people to stay in touch during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Facebook has launched a tool called Rooms that lets up to 50 people chat online (pictured). The chat’s host can decide whether it’s open to all, or can lock it to prevent uninvited guests from joining.

There are no time limits, unlike Zoom which restricts you to 40 minutes for free before prompting you to upgrade to the paid-for version.

You can open a ‘Room’ from a new section above your News Feed (on your computer), or via the Messenger app (on your phone or tablet).

To do the latter, open the app, tap the People tab at the bottom right of the screen, then ‘Create a Room’ and select the people who you want to join.

To invite people who don’t have Facebook accounts, you’ll need to create and share a link.

In addition, Whatsapp – which is owned by Facebook – now lets you chat with eight people (audio or video), double the previous limit.

To make a group call, open Whatsapp and tap Calls at the bottom. Next, tap the top-right phone icon, then New Group Call at the top and tap the circles next to the people you want to include. Finally, tap the video or audio icon (top right) to start the call.

Google, meanwhile, has made its Meet video-chat tool free to everyone (it was previously a paid-for tool aimed at businesses). It allows meetings of up to 100 people with no time limits. To use it, look for the Meet heading in your Gmail sidebar, or visit https://meet.google.com.