Snapchat Is Adding Group Video Chat To iOS, Android App This Week

Snapchat announced today that users on both iOS and Android will soon be able to start group video chats with their friends. Additionally, Snapchat will finally let users mention their friends in snaps uploaded to Stories.

“Today, we’re making Chat even more fun. Now you can video chat with up to 16 of your friends at one time,” Snapchat said on its website. “Just tap the video camera icon in a Group Chat to get your friends together! Friends in the Group Chat will receive a notification inviting them to join.”

When a friend joins a group video chat, their name will light up and appear above the keyboard to confirm that they’ve joined the call. For users who don’t want to be seen in the video, there’s going to be an option that would let them join the group chat using only their voice. Users will also be able to switch from video to voice and vice versa while still being a part of the same group video chat. As usual, all of the same face lenses will be available to users while they’re in a group video chat.

The group video chat feature on Snapchat is only limited to 16 people. However, users will be able to have group voice chats with up to 32 people. Snapchat originally introduced voice and video chat back in 2016.

“How you express yourself is up to you. You can use Lenses, join only with your voice, or simply send messages that others can read while they talk. Every conversation is unique,” the company said. Group video chat will start rolling out to all Snapchat users worldwide starting this week.

In addition to introducing group video chat, Snapchat also announced that users will now be able to tag their friends in their snap Stories. To tag a friend, users will simply have to type “@” and then start typing their username. The user’s friends should start appearing on top of the keyboard. Tapping on their friends’ names will tag them to the post.

The person tagged will be notified in the chat window that they’ve been mentioned in the user’s Story. People that see tagged snaps will be able to swipe up and add the person as a friend, according to The Verge. Additionally, people will also be able to view any of the tagged person’s public stories.

With Snapchat including group video chat to its iOS and Android apps, it now seems likely for Instagram to do the same. Code buried deep within Instagram suggests that it will soon have audio and video calling features.