Durban – Instant messaging and communications app WhatsApp will soon release a feature to Android users, allowing voice notes to play outside of the chat on which they were received.
The Facebook-owned app will soon allow users to play voice notes they receive outside the conversation continuously. Users will now be able to listen to voice notes from one contact while in another conversation.
The feature was first announced via the independent WhatsApp blog and portal, WABetaInfo, frequently reporting features available to WhatsApp Beta testers.
The new voice note feature is currently being rolled out to WhatsApp Android Beta testers, who have signed up to the programme through the Google Play Store.
This indicates that the new feature will soon be rolled out to all WhatsApp users, as it has already been updated for Apple iPhone owners, making use of the beta version WhatsApp version for iOS.
The feature has made an appearance for users of the beta version of WhatsApp for desktop.
How to check if you have and can use the new voice note feature:
– Once a voice note is received, press the play button.
– Exit the chat, and if the voice note player appears at the very top of your Whatsapp home screen, your app has been updated, and the feature has been installed.
– From here, you will be able to use the slider to forward and rewind the voice note or pause and play it.
The feature marks the second recent update to WhatsApp voice notes after the WhatsApp waveform chat bubbles release, first announced in December for WhatApp Beta testers, using the Android version of the app.
Before the launch of this feature, WhatsApp also introduced a playback speed button to get through voice notes quicker.
While WhatsApp Beta testers, on both Android and iOS, get the opportunity to make use of WhatsApp’s latest features before all other users, the programme is currently at total capacity through the Google Play Store.
New updates to beta versions of WhatsApp generally take several weeks to reach all users, who frequently update their app version.
IOL