Zoom update brings strange face filters, new ways of looking better on calls and more

Zoom has released an update that adds a host of strange new features for meetings.

New features include face filters that can add sunglasses or a unicorn horn to your head, as well as other ways to make the audio and video less distracting.

They come after Zoom committed to leave out feature updates and instead focus on security in the early days of lockdown, when a host of privacy and other problems were found with the app.

The new filters work like those found on Instagram or Snapchat. When turned on, they will track a person's face around the screen, applying the filter live and moving it as the person moves.

There are now more traditional filters, too, such as the option to change into black and white or add a particular tint to the video.

The company has also added more subtle ways of adjusting a person's appearance. The "touch up" setting, which is intended to improve a users' appearance, can now be turned up or down, and there is the option to account for bad lighting with another slider.

Zoom now also has the option to "touch up" sound, too, by getting rid of undesired audio. That filter can cut out extra sounds such as the whirr of fans or the barks of dogs, and can be turned up or down accordingly – leaving it on low will allow music to come through if someone is streaming a yoga class live, for instance, the company noted.

Other new features include additional reactions that can be sent without talking within a meeting, and the ability to drop your face into a screen while sharing a presentation.

All of the new features are accessed by heading into Zoom's settings. That can be done by clicking on the small arrow next to the option to start or stop video, and choosing "video settings" from the options there – that pop-up will include all of the new video tools, and clicking into "audio" will give access to the ones that improve the sound, too.