When I tested the 2021 iPad Pro
, I didn’t have to do anything to get the new front-facing camera feature, called Center Stage, to work with any video calling apps. Center Stage keeps you in the frame as you walk around or shift in your chair. And when there are multiple people in the frame, it zooms out to make sure everyone can be seen.
That said, there was no way to control whether or not a call used the feature without going deep in the iPad Pros’ settings app.
On Wednesday, Zoom announced it’s releasing an update in the App Store that’s designed to take advantage of the iPad Pro’s new processing power and add official support for Center Stage.
According to screenshots posted by Zoom, there’s now a button on the call interface that will let you turn Center Stage on or off without having to leave the app.
The other notable addition for the iPad Pro is the expansion of the gallery view during a large video call. Prior to the update, iPad users could see up to 25 people at one time in a call. After the update, 2021 iPad Pro users will be able to see up to 48 people at one time. If you don’t have the latest iPad Pro, Zoom says you’ll see an expanded gallery view that adds “a few” more participants but didn’t specify an exact number.
If you’re overwhelmed by the number of people on your screen, you can pinch to zoom to reduce the number of video feeds.
Zoom’s blog post says the update will arrive “this week,” and will be app version 5.6.6. As of early Wednesday morning, the update isn’t live in the App Store quite yet.
