If you’re one of those people who call with the Meta Messenger app, its latest update adds a bunch of new features for making video and audio calls. .
During a video call, you can add an AI-generated background to your screen by tapping the effects icon in the sidebar and selecting Backgrounds. So instead of showing your friends and family your old apartment or car that you haven’t cleaned since you bought it, you can replace the background with a field of sunflowers or an alien landscape with one of the suns setting. It’s something we’ve seen on basically every other video calling platform, so it’s no big surprise that Meta has added it here.
According to the blog, Meta also added some new features for video calls, including high-definition video, background noise cancellation, and noise isolation to “help you make clearer, higher-quality calls directly from Messenger.”
The HD video feature will be the default mode for Messenger calls made over Wi-Fi connections. HD calls can also be made with mobile data in settings by turning on “Mobile data for HD video”. Background noise suppression and sound isolation can also be turned on and off in Messenger’s call settings.
You can also leave voice and video messages for your contacts, other than just a string of text and maybe an emoji or two. If the person you’re contacting doesn’t pick up the call, just tap the “record message” button on the bottom right of the screen to leave a video or audio message.
Finally, if you don’t have a free hand but need to make a call, iPhone users can ask Siri to make calls and messages for them in Meta’s Messenger app. Just activate Siri and say “Hey Siri, send her a message [contact name] in Messenger” and dictate the message you want to send them.
