WhatsApp adds new video chat, QR code features

WhatsApp's parent company Facebook is dealing with political crisis after crisis. That hasn't stopped WhatsApp from making some useful improvements for everyone still relying on chat services in quarantine.

In a blog post published Tuesday, WhatsApp announced new features that would be rolling out "over the next few weeks."

Most useful for pandemic times is its improvement to group video chat. In April, it upped the maximum amount of participants from four to eight. That creates a grid on your smartphone screen, which can result in a lot of small boxes. Now, you can press and hold one box, and it will expand to take up most of the screen.

You can make a group video call in WhatsApp by pressing the video call icon directly in an existing group chat. You can also manually add participants to a new call if there's no existing group. WhatsApp video calls are end-to-end encrypted.

Other new features include the ability to add contacts with a QR code, animated stickers, and dark mode for web and desktop. WhatsApp let users enable dark mode for iOS and Android in March. And if you haven't done that yet, get on it.