My largest WhatsApp group has 6 members (as seen in the image above) and we can barely manage it when we're all being active at the same time. So forgive me for not being overwhelmingly excited by this new update to WhatsApp's beta channel that enables groups up to 256 members. The previous limit was 100, so if you ever wished you could grow your 100-member group larger, there are now a lot more people you can invite in on the conversation.

The change seems to be triggered by WhatsApp's version 2.12.437, though some users on this exact release aren't seeing it yet. So there might be a server-side switch that's flipped for some but not all. There's no telling if this will stick in future beta releases, or when WhatsApp will move it to the official Play Store release, but at least now we know that the service is exploring options to allow for larger groups.

Grab version 2.12.437 from APK Mirror if you're aching to have all of your contacts in one WhatsApp group. We, at Android Police, are not liable for any middle of the night message streams, notification overloads, impossible to manage shouting matches, crazy deluge of funny videos and memes, or any other interruptions and nuisances that might result from having that many people in one conversation.

Thanks: Moshe E, Bart Koppelmans