Screen sharing now available on WhatsApp video calls
American tech giant company, Meta, has introduced new upgrades to its social media messaging app, WhatsApp. In the latest update, WhatsApp users will now be able to share their screens with other users in real time and creating the illusion that they are in the same room no matter the distance.
According to WhatsApp, during screen sharing, the video caller’s session will appear below shared content, and their usernames and passwords will be visible to the person they are sharing their screen with.
“Screen sharing is protected with end-to-end encryption and is never recorded by WhatsApp. No one outside of the call, not even WhatsApp, can see or hear what you share on your screen,” said WhatsApp in its Help Center.
The screen sharing option is available on android, iOs and Windows, and for users to get this feature, they have to update their WhatsApp to the latest version. However, if a user isn’t using the latest version, they will get an onscreen prompt to update their app before embarking on screen sharing.
How then, does one go about setting up screen sharing?
On Android, select the video sharing icon in the video controls to access screen sharing. Your phone will then display a prompt indicating that you are about to begin recording or casting with WhatsApp.
Next, select ‘Start Now’ to begin sharing and upon completion of the call, tap ‘Stop Sharing’ to end the second party’s access.
The same applies to iOS while in Windows, a user will be required to click on ‘Share’ icon and then choose whether they want to share a specific application or the entire screen. During this screen sharing, you will be able to see your profile picture and to end the session, simply click the ‘Stop screen sharing’ icon.
Screen sharing, however, will not be possible during audio calls because it is not available for shared content “such as YouTube, Netflix or video games.”
Today, there are more than two billion WhatsApp users across the world who send about 100 billion messages a day on the platform. It is the third most used social media app and is projected to have 3.14 billion active users by 2025.
In addition to WhatsApp, Meta also owns Facebook and Instagram.
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