Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg today (March 23, 2023) announced the launching of a new WhatsApp desktop app for Windows. “Now you can make E2E encrypted video calls with up to 8 people and audio calls with up to 32 people,” Zuckerberg posted on his verified Facebook profile. In a recent blog post, Meta said: “We’ll continue to increase these limits over time so you can always stay connected with friends, family, and coworkers.” The tech giant also announced that its instant messaging app for Windows has got a revamped look with new features. Read More: Meta slashes another 10,000 jobs “The new WhatsApp app for Windows will load faster and is built with an interface similar to the mobile version of the app,” the blog post reads. “We’ve made improvements to device linking and better syncing across multiple devices,” Meta said. To avail the new features, the users have to install the latest update of the WhatsApp Windows desktop app. Once updated, A call option in the chat box – similar to the call icon available in WhatsApp app on Android or iOS – will be visible to the users Meta also announced the new Mac desktop version of the app, which is currently in beta testing. Read More: WhatsApp Communities: Here’s what the latest feature offers Prioritizing the privacy of the users in mind, WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature that gives group admins more control over their group privacy. “As more people join communities, we want to give group admins more control over their group privacy, so we’ve built a simple tool that gives admins the ability to decide who is able to join a group,” Meta said in another blog post.

Instant messaging app imo has introduced a new "SecretChat" feature with end-to-end encryption to protect users' data. The new feature will enable users to connect and communicate more securely on imo. It comes with facilities such as message self-destructing after the session and dissemination control, which means the entire conversation will be wiped out instantly after exiting the chat session, thus ensuring no trace of the conversation. The secret chat feature is available in the attachment bar of the chat interface with a specific contact. Read India unveils WhatsApp alternative, Sandes Chat sessions of the users will be protected through end-to-end encryption. The most important aspect of this new feature is the dissemination control functions. Under this function, no one can copy, forward, share, download, screenshot, or record any private chat conversations. This feature will enable imo users to communicate with greater confidence and security when sharing their private matters. To ensure an enhanced security experience for the users, imo has rolled out a series of security measures over the last few months. Read Top WhatsApp Alternatives for Free Calling and Group Chatting In December 2020, the global instant communication platform introduced a new enhanced phone number verification system for Bangladeshi users to protect user information, especially when the user is switching numbers. This verification system does not allow the old phone number to access the associated imo account. So, the relevant data remains intact and secure.  Around 150 million free calls, videos, and pictures are exchanged using imo every day in Bangladesh, said the platform. Read A clear Signal that Indians are increasingly shunning WhatsApp? Apart from that, 96 billion messages and 26 billion audio and video calls were made by Bangladeshi imo users in 2020, it added.

India has unveiled a WhatsApp like instant messaging app called Sandes amid a huge backlash against the former's new privacy policy.