Popular messaging platform WhatsApp in its latest server-side update to its app on Android and iOS has increased the limit on number of users included in a group chat from 100 to 256.

This comes after the company chose to do away with the annual subscription charge at the end of January. 

Some experts believe this move to be a ploy by the company to cater to business users.

Initially, the number of people on WhatsApp groups was limited to 50 till November 2014.

According to tech experts, Android users who do not see the update automatically can download the latest version of the application from the company's website or the Play Store.

The update is yet to be available on other operating systems and is likely to be rolled out for Windows and BlackBerry in the near future.

After Facebook bought WhatsApp from the original makers of the app in February 2014, the company has been aggressively trying to connect businesses and organization directly.

Earlier this month, the messaging company hit 1 billion monthly active users, bringing itself level with the Gmail app.

According to the company, WhatsApp is used to send 42 billion messages per day, 1.6 billion photos per day, 250 million videos per day, and has 1 billion groups.