{"id":2360,"date":"2016-12-19T18:55:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T18:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/facebook-messenger-launches-6-screen-group-video-chat-with-selfie-masks.html"},"modified":"2016-12-19T18:55:48","modified_gmt":"2016-12-19T18:55:48","slug":"facebook-messenger-launches-6-screen-group-video-chat-with-selfie-masks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/facebook-messenger-launches-6-screen-group-video-chat-with-selfie-masks.html","title":{"rendered":"Facebook Messenger launches 6-screen group video chat with selfie masks"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Teen app sensation Houseparty will get some competition as Facebook Messenger is launching<\/a>\u00a0its own split-screen group video chat feature. 6 users can appear in\u00a0split-screen at the time and don Snapchat-style selfie masks, while 50 total can listen and talk over voice while sending text, stickers, emojis, and GIFs.<\/p>\n

The feature could make a Messenger a place to \u201clivechill\u201d with friends rather than just a way to send\u00a0texts to exchange more utilitarian information or plan logistics. Instead of just popping in to fire off messages, you could hang out for extended periods on the app. Facebook frames it as \u201cperfect for those spontaneous moments where text just isn\u2019t enough\u201d.<\/p>\n

Group video chat starts rolling out worldwide on iOS, Android, and web, today, though Android will have to wait for the MSQRD-powered selfie masks that might not ever come to desktop. It\u2019s free on wi-fi but standard data charges will apply on cellular connections.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been anticipating this launch since Messenger released\u00a0one-on-one video calling<\/a> in April 2015 and group audio calling<\/a> a year later. 245 million people make video calls on Messenger each month already, so this feature could see rapid adoption.<\/p>\n

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The launch makes Messenger the first popular western messaging app with group video chat. It\u2019s managed to beat FaceTime\/iMessage, Google Duo, and Snapchat to the punch. Messaging pioneer WeChat added it<\/a> a year ago.\u00a0WhatsApp<\/a> pushed video calls last month, and can handle groups video via Booyah<\/a>. [Correction: WhatsApp lacks a native group video chat feature.] Google\u2019s neglected Hangouts<\/a> app launched many of these features back in 2013, but it hasn\u2019t become a core place for text messaging, making it more of a specialty app amongst Google\u2019s fragmented communication family<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"facebook-group-video-chat\"US teens might be most familiar with the format from the recent rise of Houseparty<\/a>, the new app from the makers of Meerkat. We profiled Houseparty\u2019s climb to 1.2 million daily users<\/a> as it becomes a laid-back \u201clivechill\u201d group alternative to exhausting performances on live broadcasting apps like Facebook Live. It\u2019s since briefly climbed into the top 5 iOS apps and raised $50 million led by Sequoia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Messenger group video chat works a little differently, but with a similar design. Instead of simply logging into an ever-present video chat room that notifies friends like on Houseparty, you deliberately select friends or a group text thread to invite to a video call.<\/p>\n

Once in, up to 4 Messenger users can share big slices of the screen, while Houseparty accommodates 8. Between 4 and 6 callers, the Messenger screen switches to a gallery format, with whoever is speaking taking up the bulk of the screen with little thumbnails of everyone else at the bottom. And everyone beyond the first 6 up to 50 callers will only be able to listen, speak, and send content but won\u2019t appear in the video gallery.<\/p>\n

By embracing group video chat, Messenger becomes more of a communication destination rather than just a sporadically used tool. Along with its Active Now feature, we could see it becoming more of its own full-fledged real-time social network, while Facebook proper becomes a hub for consuming existing content.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/4XwWk9LalmQ\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teen app sensation Houseparty will get some competition as Facebook Messenger is launching\u00a0its own split-screen group video chat feature. 6 users can appear in\u00a0split-screen at the time and don Snapchat-style <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,7,14,15,6,12,11],"class_list":["post-2360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-update","tag-computer-news","tag-downloads","tag-microsoft-download-news","tag-networking-updates","tag-technology-update","tag-wordpress-plugin-download","tag-wordpress-theme-download"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t