These new features include listening to a voice message outside of the chat, so users can multitask or read and respond to other messages; being able to pause the recording and resuming when ready, in case they’re interrupted and a visual representation of the sound on the voice message to help follow the recording. Users can also listen to their voice messages before sending them as per the new updates, pick up where they left if they pause when listening to a voice message, and play voice messages at 1.5x or 2x speeds to listen to messages faster on both regular and forwarded messages.
“When we first launched voice messaging in 2013, we knew that it could change the way people communicate,” the company said in the blogpost.
“Every day on WhatsApp, our users send 7 billion voice messages on average, all of which are protected by end-to-end encryption to keep them private and secure at all time,” it added.
The new features will roll out on the platform in the coming weeks.
WhatsApp said voice messages have made it quick and easy for people to have more expressive conversations. “Showing emotion or excitement through voice is more natural than text, and in many situations, voice messages are the preferred form of communication on WhatsApp,” the company stated.
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