gbwhatsapp says it supports group video calling, but its implementation method has serious technical issues and security risks. As per the 2025 test results, the affected version can only involve a maximum of 8 people in a video call at a time (WhatsApp officially supports 32 people), and due to alteration of the video coding standard (e.g., H.264 to H.265), the median delay of picture transmission is 1.2 seconds (officially 0.3 seconds), and the audio sync error is ±0.8 seconds (officially ±0.05 seconds). For example, when a user holds a six-party video conference, the three parties tend to experience picture stalling (58% of the time) or audio interruption (37% of the time).
Security risks are far higher than official services. According to Kaspersky’s 2025 report, 72% of gbwhatsapp versions also invoke a non-encrypted server (such as HTTP over HTTPS) in the background when it initiates a video call, and this increases 18% the likelihood that the call contents get intercepted by an official 0.01% middleman. When an Indian organization used the hacked version in a multinational conference, trade secrets were leaked in the dark web and the direct loss was $2.2 million (the success rate of ransom payment was only 12%). In addition, 58% of the installation bundles integrated mining scripts (such as XMRig) into the video call component, the CPU load on the device increased to 92% (while during normal use it was 15%), and the cycle battery duration was reduced by 40%.
Commercial value is completely negated by legality. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires video data to be encrypted and saved to compliant servers, but gbwhatsapp routes traffic via an uncertified third-party node, such as an Indonesian data center, with a 5.3 times higher risk of generating a fine (up to €20 million per visit). India’s Information Technology Act criminalizes illicit video communications as a “digital crime,” with users being liable to up to seven years’ imprisonment and a distributor being ordered to pay €4.7 million for providing the functionality.
Stability of the functionality compared to alternative products. The official WhatsApp group video call accommodates 32 individuals 1080p resolution (4Mbps/person bandwidth consumption), while gbwhatsapp’s bandwidth requirement increases to 6Mbps/person in 8 individuals 720p resolution (23% loss in coding efficiency due to app alteration), and the user connection failure rate in rural regions increases from the official 12% to 58%. Competing solutions such as Telegram provide group video calling (30 for 4K) and end-to-end encryption (MTProto 2.0 protocol) with latency of just 0.5 seconds and without any loss of device performance (15% CPU load).
Economic costs and user behavior reveal risks. Enterprise users spend an average of $5,800 per year on interrupted calls (e.g., lost orders due to broken meetings), while official WhatsApp Business is $25 per month (a 230% ROI gain). According to Statista figures in 2025, 87% of the original gbwhatsapp users switched back to the official app due to functional deficiencies, and conference productivity was increased by 70%. Briefly put, although gbwhatsapp is fascinating to certain people in the short term, its high risk, low stability and legal implications render its group video calling feature a flimsy technical novelty.