In a bid to make it easier to spend time with distant friends and family on Thanksgiving, during the holiday, Zoom lifted the standard 40-minute limit on its video chats. Now the company has announced it will do the same over the upcoming festive season so people can socialize safely with their loved ones in the midst of the pandemic.
“As a token of appreciation to our users during an extraordinary time, we’re removing the 40-minute limit on free Zoom accounts for all meetings globally for several upcoming special occasions,” the company said.
Normally, the free version of its videoconferencing platform only allows users to chat with each other for no longer than 40 minutes. When the time is up, the meeting ends abruptly, often requiring the host to go through the hassle of starting another meeting to continue the conversation.
Here are the dates and times when Zoom will be removing the 40-minute limit:
- 10 AM ET Thursday, December 17th, to 6 AM ET Saturday, December 19th, for the end of Hanukkah
- 10 AM ET Wednesday, December 23rd, to 6 AM ET Saturday, December 26th, for Christmas Eve and Christmas
- 10 AM ET on Wednesday, December 30th, to 6 AM ET on Saturday, January 2nd, for New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and the end of Kwanzaa
