WhatsApp update now lets you add up to 256 members to a group

WhatsApp is quietly rolling out an update, which brings in one big change to its groups. The cap for the number members one can add to a group is being raised from 100 to 256.


WhatsApp’s latest version — 2.12.437 – isn’t available on the Google Play Store yet, but can be manually downloaded from the company’s website. The member cap has been raised for the first time after 2014, when WhatsApp increased the number of users you can add to a group from 50 to 100.
To install the downloaded APK file, ensure that you have enabled the setting on your smartphone. Head over to Settings -> Security -> and enable the option ‘Unknown Sources’. You will be shown a pop message, which warns you against installing apps from unknown sources. Hit Okay to enable the setting.
Recently, WhatsApp revealed that its active user base had crossed a billion. Breaking down the numbers, WhatsApp also revealed that there were more than a billion WhatsApp groups, and users were sending 42 billion messages every day, and sharing 1.6 billion photos and 250 million videos every day.