Signal increases group video call limit to 40 users, says it could allow more users to join in the future

Signal will now allow up to 40 users to join a group video call. The messaging app, which goes big on privacy, notes that the platform ensures that all communication is end-to-end encrypted despite the increase in its call participants. Signal noted that it used the "Selective Forwarding" technology that allows calls to go through servers that forward the contents of the call to other participants without compromising on privacy. It is currently rolling out to Android and iOS versions of Signal.

"We launched group calls using a modified version of one of them, but shortly found that even with heavy modifications, we couldn't reliably scale past 8 participants due to high server CPU usage. To scale to more participants, we wrote a new Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) from scratch in Rust," Signal noted in a blog post. It noted that it has been serving Signal group calls for 9 months and scales up to 40 participants and could hold more in the future.

In recent times, WhatsApp has added several new features to its joinable calls. However, it still only supports eight members on a video call. The messaging app allows users to call a WhatsApp group and join from the group chat window, even if they miss a group call. Users will now see a dedicated button near the group chat icon. Telegram, in July, added the ability for 1000 people to join a group video call and also allow users to send video messages. It also enables users to share screens on one-on-one calls on their devices when broadcasting in any video call.

Earlier this year, Signal gained immense popularity in India in the backdrop of Facebook-owned WhatsApp's contentious terms of service. For a brief period, Signal even became the number one app on the App Store in India. Signal allows users to relay voice calls to its servers so your identity remains concealed from your contacts. The feature is somewhat similar to what a VPN does.

Signal emphasises encryption for calls and messages. It also ensures that it encrypts user's metadata as well. Through Signal's Sealed Sender feature, users can ensure ultimate privacy as they will not be able to figure out who is messaging whom Signal by default encrypts all the local files with a 4-digit passphrase, and enables users to create an encrypted local backup then you can do that as well. The app now also supports encrypted group calls.