Signal Now Supports E2E Encrypted Group Video Calling
Dec. 15, 2020With many attending classes or working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an uptick in the use of video calling apps. While Zoom wasone of the most downloaded appsthis year, it alsoshowed us how important privacy isfor such video calling apps. Now, Signal Private Messenger also wants a piece of the piece and hasadded end-to-end encrypted group video callsto its mobile app.
Signal has offered encrypted one-on-one voice and video calls for years. However, it is now looking to serve as an alternative toWhatsApp or Instagram group video callsfor privacy enthusiasts. The highlight of the feature is that the group calls are end-to-end encrypted. All of your data is secure and nothing is saved to Signal’s servers.
How to Make Group Video Calls on Signal
Now, if you are a religious Signal user, you willstart seeing a video call button at the top of your group chat. Just tap on the video call button to start a face-to-face group conversation. All participants of the group will receive a notification when you start a video call. It’s quite self-explanatory.
Signal group video calls start off in agrid view by default.“You can also swipe up to switch to a view that automatically focuses the screen on who is speaking, and it will update in real-time as the active speaker changes,”as per theofficial blog post.
Now, one of your biggest queries will be – how many users can participate in Signal group video calls? Currently, you canonly have up to 5 participantsin group calls. This is a major shortcoming but the company plans to increase the count very soon.
Another shortcoming of the feature is that it will initially be available for new style Signal groups. The group video call button won’t be seen in legacy groups. But, the official blog post mentions that“legacy Signal groups will start automatically updating to New Groups in the coming weeks.”So, all Signals will be able to access encrypted group video calling in the coming weeks.
