Key Takeaways
- WhatsApp has introduced Voice Chats, a new feature that allows users to have voice conversations in group chats without sacrificing the ability to text simultaneously. It is designed to be less distracting and allows for easy entry and exit from the conversation.
- Voice Chats are a part of Group Chats, providing an additional form of communication between a text-based group chat and a group call.
- The rollout of WhatsApp voice chats has already begun, and users can expect to receive the update in the coming weeks. However, voice chats have some limitations – at least for now.
For some time now, WhatsApp has been the messaging app of choice for loads of people. The app is incredibly simple to use but also allows a slew of great (sometimes hidden) features that help you stay connected with your friends and family without being constrained by your service provider’s call and messaging limits.
That’s why when the platform introduces a big new feature, it is usually accompanied by a lot of stir. However, that’s not always the case. Today, without a lot of fanfare, WhatsApp introduced a long-awaited Voice Chats by simply adding information about it to its Help Center. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
What are WhatsApp voice chats?
WhatsApp is a great platform for writing and messaging your friends and making it extremely easy to connect to your whole friend group by using a group chat or a group call.
However, sometimes these features are simply not enough, as they are a little bit restraining. Of course, the group chat feature only allows you to write your messages (or send voice memos or other files), making communication slightly slower than a normal conversation. Group calls, conversely, make it difficult to do anything else on the platform and require your full attention without the ability to quickly send a separate text on the chat.
Voice chats are supposed to fill that gap and allow you to connect with your friends using your voice in a less constraining manner. The feature will work a bit like Discord’s much-loved voice chats – you’ll simply be able to pop in there and chat a little, without the need to give up on your standard text chat. Also, if anyone cannot join the voice chat, you can still keep them in the loop via text.
What’s more, voice chats are also set to be less distracting and disruptive. When a voice chat starts, you’ll simply get a notification that your group has started chatting. Then, you’ll be able to join a chat through your group by tapping a single icon.
Voice chats are also designed to help you stay continually in touch and easily get into and out of the conversation. That’s why they are open all the time, as long as even one person is in the voice chat. Of course, if there is just one participant, the voice chat will end after an hour, but in that time anyone can easily pop in and start chatting, without the need for any links or adding them to a call.
Here’s how to start a voice chat:
- Open the group chat that you want to chat with
- Tap the voice chat icon in the upper right corner
- Tap Start Voice Chat
- You’re now connected, and everyone in the group will be notified about the open voice chat. You can see the people who join by checking the banner at the bottom.
Of course, as with other messages and calls, your data is still end-to-end encrypted.
How are voice chats different from Group Chats?
Group Chats are one of the most popular features on WhatsApp. They allow you to connect with your friend groups all at once to talk things through and share the latest gossip.
However, the limitation of the group chat is that it’s text-only. Of course, you can send out voice memos or attach files, just as with personal chats on WhatsApp, but sometimes that’s not enough. That’s where voice chats come into play.
The new voice chats are essentially a part of your group chat. If you are in a group chat, you can start a voice chat from within, making it an additional form of communication that stands between a text-based group chat and a group call. It’s a quick and easy way to talk to anyone who’s online at the time without making a big fuss and creating a full-blown group call.
When will WhatsApp voice chats be available?
Even though the new feature appeared in some beta builds of WhatsApp already in August, it never really got an official announcement date until today.
As the feature is rolling out now, you should expect the update to reach you in the coming days or (worst case scenario) weeks.
How to get WhatsApp voice chats
Getting the new voice chat feature will be no problem at all. As its rollout has begun, you can expect to see an update to your WhatsApp software in a few days or weeks at most. When you update your app, the feature should be available immediately and accessible from your group chat.
However, you must remember that voice chat will have some limitations initially. it will only be accessible to group chats that are between 33 and 128 people in size. WhatsApp probably believes that if you have fewer people talking, you should do fine with just the group call feature, and a bigger group will probably be quite difficult to handle in a voice chat.
The other limitation is the number of active participants in the voice chat. For now, that number is 32. This means that at any given time, only 32 people can be online in a voice chat, even though the group chat itself can support more participants.
The last thing that you’ll need to remember is that the voice chat feature will only be available on your primary device. This means that, even though WhatsApp Web or Desktop have a lot of useful tricks up their sleeves, voice chat will, for now, not be one of them.
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