Zoom lifts 40-minute limit for free users on upcoming holidays

The company has made meeting unlimited for Hanukkah, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and Kwanzaa.

New Delhi: Video meet app Zoom has removed the 40-minute limit on free accounts for several upcoming holidays. The company has made meeting unlimited for Hanukkah, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and Kwanzaa.

Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African-American culture that is held from December 26 to January 1.

“You don’t need to do anything to remove the limit — it will be automatically lifted during these designated times,” the company said in an update on Wednesday.

Zoom earlier lifted its 40-minute limit last month for Thanksgiving Day.

“COVID-19 has changed how we live, work, and celebrate in 2020, and like everything else this year, the holiday season doesn’t look the same.

“We’re removing the 40-minute limit on free Zoom accounts for all meetings globally for several upcoming special occasions,” the company announced.

Google Meet has also announced to let users host calls that last for up to 24 hours, till March 31, 2021 for its free service.

The popularity of Zoom skyrocketed after Covid-19 restrictions pushed people worldwide to remain indoors as much as possible.

However, it’s widespread adoption also brought attention to some security issues plaguing the platform.

This led the company to deliver a promise to fix a number of issues in a time-bound manner.

“To help protect your session from uninvited guests, be sure your meeting passcodes are turned on and Waiting Rooms are enabled,” Zoom had said.