News

WhatsApp Upgrades Video Calls With New Features: A Guide

The platform’s latest update adds filters, backgrounds, and a Low Light feature, improving both usability and privacy.

Published

2 years ago

October 2, 2024

whatsapp upgrades video calls with new features a guide

WhatsApp has rolled out a series of exciting updates for its video calling feature, aimed at making conversations more dynamic and enjoyable. The new features allow users to customize their video calls with filters and backgrounds, giving each call a personal touch.

One of the most highly-anticipated additions is the introduction of filters: Users can now apply creative visual effects to their videos, ranging from vibrant color schemes to artistic styles.

now you can add backgrounds and filters on video calls 🤳 set the vibe and show up in new ways, it’s your call pic.twitter.com/LNVWfaKCBy

— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) October 1, 2024

There are ten filters to choose from, including options like Warm, Cool, Black & White, and Dreamy. Each one sets a different tone, allowing users to pick a filter that suits the mood of their conversation. This feature helps make video calls more engaging and visually appealing.

Another useful upgrade is the ability to change backgrounds during video calls. Users can now replace their actual surroundings with various preset scenes, helping maintain privacy or simply creating a more visually interesting call.

For example, users can appear to be sitting in a cozy living room, a bustling café, or on a serene beach. There’s also a blur option to subtly obscure the background, keeping the focus on you. With ten backgrounds to choose from, this feature ensures flexibility and privacy during calls.

Also Read: How To Find & Cancel Pending Instagram Requests

Additionally, WhatsApp now includes a Low Light mode, which enhances brightness in poorly lit environments, ensuring that your video remains clear regardless of your surroundings. This feature is especially helpful when making calls in dimly lit areas.

To access these new features, simply tap the effects icon in the top right corner of your screen during a video call. Whether you’re on a one-on-one or group call, these updates are easy to use and available in an instant.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.