WhatsApp just doubled its group chat capacity to over 500 people

You'll soon get the update to add 512 members

Your group chats on WhatsApp may be about to get a bit more unruly as the messaging app has just doubled the number of participants you can have in one chat. Previously, the limit was 256 people, but you can now have 512 people in the same group chat. The change has been known for around a month through betas, but this is the first time the feature has rolled out to all users.

You’ll get the update to include 512 people in one chat through the latest app version for Android and iOS, as spotted by WABetaInfo. My WhatsApp has already introduced the feature, but it may take around 24 hours for the feature to roll out to all devices, so you may have to wait a bit longer to be able to use it. It automatically changes the participant limit, and you can see whether you have the change by creating a new Group, selecting your first participant, and seeing what it says at the top of the screen.

A group of 512 people may be challenging to keep up with, as you can expect a lot of notifications. Still, Android Police writer Haroun Adamu raised a good point in his previous coverage by saying it is an interesting development for organizations that use WhatsApp to communicate with large numbers of staff. It’s unlikely you have 512 friends you want in the same group chat unless you’re planning a particularly raucous party, but this could be useful for specific scenarios.

Recent WhatsApp beta information has shown us the company is also working on Google Drive exports of your backup data and tweaks to the status feature that will make it easier to change quickly.