As the holiday season draws to a close, Facebook Messenger will take on new meaning for people who love group video calls. Now that Messenger has become one of the biggest communication mobile apps out there because of COVID-19, the new video call feature will make communication something more fun for people who make use of the app.
What are AR Effects?
It is a way to add special effects to photo or videos. The effect changes what you have in the photo or video. The technology isn’t new to Sony smartphones. Sony Xperia, for example, can offer users the ability to add objects and effects to their photos.
The word AR stands for Augmented Reality, a software that recognizes objects in photos or videos, and analyses the video stream. Now, the new AR Effects for group videos make it possible for several people to make use of the effect all at once. This is truly a good way to enjoy conversations with friends and family.
In this case of a group calling on Facebook Messenger, users have access to over 70 Group Effects. They offer stunning opportunities to interact with others who are on the same call as you. It is possible to immerse oneself and friends in games where they compete to build something or change faces in a funny manner. For example, it is possible to become an orange cat on everyone’s screen.
Find the Group Effects on Facebook Messenger
To find the group AR effects on messenger, you need to follow the next instruction.
- Open the Messenger app
- Start a video call or create a room
- Tap the smiley face to open the effects tray
- Select Group Effects
- Enjoy
AR Effects and 360 Degree Backgrounds for Desktop
This was introduced almost a year ago by Facebook so that people could enjoy the holiday season with a new set of AR effects filters and 360-degree backgrounds at that time. It was a big feat since that was the first technology of that kind. Anyone who had the desktop version of the Facebook Messenger app could enjoy it.
Before that time, regular users have their in-app AR effects working. The 360-degree backgrounds were also added to the regular app users around mid-2020.
The AR effects at that time allowed users to choose from a variety of holiday AR effects such as Christmas Elf, Christmas Tree Hat, Grumpy Yeti, Festive Lights, Winter Village, and Santa’s Lap. These were the seasonal options available to the Messenger app users.
For example, a person who wanted to look like Santa could just grab a digital hat, and masks to appear like the real one out there during Christmas. What a nice way to bring both the mobile and desktop together for one purpose: Help families or friends who are apart to catch fun during the holidays.
How to Get the AR Effects & 360 Degree Backgrounds for Desktop
The Messenger can be downloaded for desktop for both Mac and Windows computers. Click here to download the right version for Mac, and click here to download the version for Windows. Anything from Windows 10 can work for this without hassles.
Advantages of using the AR Effects App for Desktop
Primarily, the app offers new features such as the ability for one to invite anyone to a room with a link, multitask while video chatting, share files, photos, and videos with other friends while keeping the conversation going in dark mode when the surrounding area is in low lighting mode.
It also has other advantages as mentioned below:
- Access to texting, high-quality voice, and video chat, all for free. It works seamlessly for desktop versions of the app.
- It offers desktop notifications so that you never miss a thing. You can even immerse yourself in multi-tasking and be in full charge of everything.
- You have the option to host one-on-one meetings or bring more people into the conversation without worrying about the video or voice quality. Everything is made to deliver in a quality that you can be proud of.
- It gets easy for you in low-light conditions once you switch to dark mode. You never miss a thing when you use dark mode.
- There is a whole bunch of stickers, GIFs, and emojis that you could choose from to add to the fun. This feature is surely going to make your group video chat more interesting. A good way to use stickers, GIFs, and emojis is to ensure that they tell your story when words aren’t enough.
- Share photos and files with friends. The files you share can also include videos. As you send files, remember, you too can receive files. This greatly helps your productivity.
- Remember that calls are free over Wi-Fi.
I can’t Access the New Group Effects & AR filters
Yes, it is possible for this to happen because it is a new feature for an already existing app. Depending on where you live, you may need to wait a bit before the feature is enabled in your territory. Don’t worry, your wait could be less than a month. Surely, Facebook intends to make the feature available to all users worldwide in a short while.
The new features will also be available to all who gather for the group call no matter what their locations are. The new AR filters will be available for all on the video call to access at the same time, as there will not be a case of a user having features that another user on the same call doesn’t have.
Will the New AR Group Effects come to Instagram?
Yes is the definite answer. Facebook in announcing the new feature also mentions that the feature will be rolling to Instagram soon.
How to know if the Group Effects and AR filters are on my device
You simply need to search for the Group Effects option on your device. Take the following steps to find out:
- Open the Facebook Messenger App
- Start a video call or create a room
- Once the room has started, tap on the smiley face
- Open the effects tray
- Check for the Group Effects option
- Tap it to see what options are available to you and to other participants in the call
