With Facebook’s somewhat checkered history with regards to user privacy, many were incredulous when the company announced its Portal video calling device back in 2018 as it basically put a Facebook camera in your home. However, if you do own a Portal, then the latest update could be of interest to you.In an announcement by Facebook, they have revealed that the latest update to Portal will now allow as many as 50 users per video call. This is thanks to Facebook expanding its Messenger Rooms feature to the device, where according to Facebook, “Starting today, you can easily hang out with friends and family on video group calls with Messenger Rooms on Portal — shareable video chat links for up to 50 people make it easier to get together with others remotely.”
For those unfamiliar, Messenger Rooms is basically Facebook’s challenger to Zoom. Messenger had previously allowed users to make video calls, but with Messenger Rooms, it expanded the number of active users per call to as many as 50. While it isn’t as many as Zoom’s 100 user limit, we imagine that it will still be more than sufficient for most users.
In addition to allowing 50 users per call, Facebook has also updated Portal with new background options so that you can hide your room’s messy background while you’re on a video call with your colleagues.