Check Out the New Portal Home Screen:
We’ve redesigned the Portal home screen to
provide a more personalized experience with updates and recommendations that inspire
connection. In addition to your favorite contacts, now you will see calling notifications such as a
pending Messenger Rooms invitation or a missed video call that you can tap to call back right
from the home screen.
Voice Control with Facebook Assistant & Alexa:
Portal offers hands-free voice control so you
can start a Messenger or WhatsApp video call, play music, check the weather, create timers,
and launch apps simply by saying "Hey Portal." Today, “Hey Portal” is available in English
(US/Canada/UK) and Spanish (US) with more languages coming. Note, the device language on
your Portal for Spanish (US) is called Espanol (America Latina).
Facebook Assistant is not available if you select any other language when you set up your
device. Portal does include support for on-screen French, Spanish, and Italian language.
You can also enable Alexa on Portal so you can access additional hands-free functionality and
control your Smart Home. We added more visual features and Alexa skills as well. For example,
say, “Alexa, show me my front door” to see video from your Ring doorbell, and control your
lights or lock the doors right from the screen with Alexa’s smart home automation skills.
Video Calling
Smart Camera:
Portal features Smart Camera, our AI-powered camera that automatically pans
and zooms to keep everyone in the frame. While on a call with another Portal user, ask the
other person to walk around the room and see firsthand how Smart Camera automatically
adjusts to keep them in the frame. See how the camera works when a second person enters the
room.
Making a Call:
You can call anyone with a Portal device, or connect with friends via Messenger,
Rooms, WhatsApp, BlueJeans, GoToMeeting, Workplace, Webex and Zoom on their phone,
tablet (excluding WhatsApp), or computer, even if they don’t have a Portal device. To start a call
with Messenger or WhatsApp, select your friend or family member’s contact card or say, “Hey
Portal, call [contact].” Just like all of your other devices that run Messenger and WhatsApp,
Portal does not allow calls between Messenger and WhatsApp accounts.
Group Calls:
Portal supports up to eight people on a call, including you, on Messenger and four
people, including you, on WhatsApp calls. Add a person to a Messenger or WhatsApp call by
selecting the “+ person” icon on the screen. You’ll see a horizontal list of contacts pop up. To
search for friends outside this list, scroll to the right and select the “All Contacts” icon. From
there, you can select from or search through your contacts list and add them to the call by
tapping on the circle icon to the right of their name.
