Zoom lifts 40-minute limit on free meetings for Thanksgiving

San Francisco: Video meeting app Zoom has said that it is lifting the 40-minute limit on free accounts globally for Thanksgiving in order to help bring families together virtually this holiday season amid the pandemic.

The meeting limit cap will automatically lift "from midnight ET on Thursday, November 26, through 6 a.m. ET Friday, November 27, so your family gatherings don't get cut short," Zoom said on Wednesday.

"While we are a US-based company, we are truly thankful for all of our users around the world, and we are especially grateful this Thanksgiving during an extraordinarily challenging year," Zoom said in a blog post.

"Simply start a Zoom meeting and enjoy unlimited meetings for the duration of the Thanksgiving holiday," it said.

To get into the holiday spirit, Zoom users can download a fall-themed virtual background on its website.

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

However, its 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.

"And to help protect your session from uninvited guests, be sure your meeting passcodes are turned on and Waiting Rooms are enabled," Zoom said.