WhatsApp Tests Ability to Play Voice Messages Outside of Chat Threads
WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature to users of its beta app that adds the ability to continue listening to a voice message after you've exited the chat thread it was received in.
WhatsApp has been working on a global voice note player for some time to let users listen to voice messages in the background while navigating around the app.
Currently, if you play a voice note and then exit the chat thread in which the note was received, playback stops. The idea of allowing playback to continue is so that you can still listen to long recordings while composing and reading other messages.
In the latest beta, if you play a voice note and then switch to the WhatsApp home screen or to a different chat thread, a new voice message playback interface appears at the top of the app with buttons to pause, resume, or dismiss the voice note, along with a progress bar.
According to WABetaInfo, the feature has been released to some iOS testers of WhatsApp Beta and WhatsApp Business Beta, but not all, so if you can't listen to voice notes when you exit a chat, sit tight and wait for the next beta update when it should roll out more fully.
It's not known when the global voice note player will go mainstream, but given the feature is now available to both Android and iOS users on the beta, it shouldn't be too long.
This is the second feature WhatsApp has trialed in 2022. Last week it began testing a feature that displays profile pictures in iOS system notifications when users receive new messages from chats and groups.
Related Stories
WhatsApp is testing a helpful new feature on iOS that displays profile pictures in system notifications when users receive new messages from chats and groups.
Image credit: WABetaInfo First spotted by app specialist WABetaInfo, the first new feature for the platform in 2022 uses APIs in iOS 15 to add the WhatsApp profile images to notifications in top-screen banners and in the Notification...
WhatsApp says it is rolling out a new option that makes disappearing messages the default behavior for all new chats on the end-to-end encrypted messaging platform.
It's been over a year since WhatsApp launched its disappearing messages feature, which allows messages, photos, and videos to be marked to disappear after seven days. The feature can be enabled for direct messages and in groups...
WhatsApp has rolled out multi-device support to all users on iOS and Android, allowing WhatsApp to be used on up to four linked devices without users needing to be connected via a smartphone.
To enable multi-device support, users need to join the multi-device beta. Launch WhatsApp on iPhone, then select Settings -> Linked Devices. Select Multi-Device Beta, then tap Join Beta. Once that's...
Wednesday August 11, 2021 8:16 am PDT by
Sami FathiOne of the biggest hurdles for customers looking to switch between Android and iOS is their inability to transfer their WhatsApp chats between the two different ecosystems. Now, that's coming to an end, as WhatsApp has officially announced that it will easily allow users to transfer their chats between Android and iOS.
As reported first by Engadget, WhatsApp used airtime during Samsung's...
WhatsApp is working on an app for iPadOS, and thanks to Mac Catalyst, an app for macOS too, according to WABetaInfo.
WhatsApp's rumored app for iPad will be a Catalyst app, enabling it to run seamlessly on macOS. This effectively allows the same app to share code while running on separate platforms.
The new WhatsApp app for macOS apparently looks very similar to the app for iPadOS,...
WhatsApp has made a privacy change to prevent people on the messaging platform from viewing the "Last Seen" status of users whom they have never chatted with, according to the latest report from independent feature specialist WABetaInfo.
As regular WhatsApp users will know, the "Last Seen" status of a contact sits atop the conversation thread, informing you when that contact last opened the...
WhatsApp has launched a cryptocurrency payment feature for a small number of users in the United States, thanks to Novi integration, a digital wallet owned by Facebook (now Meta).
The pilot program lets users of the encrypted messaging app send and receive money "instantly, securely, and with no fees" using the Paxos Dollar (USPD) stablecoin, whose value is linked to the US dollar.
The...
WhatsApp is testing a new feature that will allow users to transfer their chat history, logs, and transcripts between iOS and Android devices, making it easier for WhatsApp users to switch between the two platforms. The new future, in the early stages of development, was brought to light by WABetaInfo, who often shares unreleased and hidden features behind the chatting service. According to ...
Popular Stories
Apple is working on a number of new products that are set to launch this fall, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that it will be "the widest array" of new devices that Apple has introduced in its history.
In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explains that Apple is working on four new flagship iPhones (iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Max, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max), an updated low-end Ma...
Three months after their launch, the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros continue to experience high demand and seemingly short supply, with shipping dates for both models stretching into multiple weeks in several of Apple's key markets.
In the United States, the baseline 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip is estimated to ship in three to four weeks, promising an arrival by at least...
Dropbox today announced that users who update to macOS 12.3 once that software version becomes available may temporarily encounter issues with opening online-only files in some third-party apps on their Mac.
In a support document and an email to customers, Dropbox said it is actively working on full support for online-only files on macOS 12.3 and will begin rolling out an updated version of...
Apple has always emphasized the depth of thought that goes into the design of its products. In the foreword to Designed by Apple in California, a photo book released by the company in 2016, Jony Ive explains how Apple strives "to define objects that appear effortless" and "so simple, coherent and inevitable that there could be no rational alternative."
But every once in a while even Apple...
Apple today announced the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop for the Apple Watch, as well as a new downloadable watch face, to celebrate Black History Month. Following the launch of the limited edition Black Unity Apple Watch Series 6 and Sport Band in 2021, Apple today launched the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop as part of its celebrations for Black History Month this year.Apple is launching a...
AT&T today announced the launch of upgraded AT&T Fiber plans, which support speeds of up to 5 Gigabits for some customers. There are two separate plans, one "2 GIG" plan and one "5 GIG" plan, available to new and existing AT&T Fiber subscribers.
According to AT&T, the new plans are available to nearly 5.2 million customers across 70 metro areas including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, San...
Benchmark results have started to surface for MSI's new GE76 Raider, one of the first laptops to be powered by Intel's new 12th-generation Core i9 processor.
Intel previously said that its new high-end Core i9 processor is faster than Apple's M1 Max chip in the 16-inch MacBook Pro and, as noted by Macworld, early Geekbench 5 results do appear to confirm this claim, but there are several...
Apple today released iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3, the third major updates to the iOS and iPadOS 15 operating systems that were released in September 2021. iOS and iPadOS 15.3 come almost two weeks after the release of iOS and iPadOS 15.2.1, minor bug fix updates.
The iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 updates can be downloaded for free and the software is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in ...
Top Rated Comments
It's bad enough that so many people use this messenger.
Why does macrumors have to promote it as well? How does this fit in with the emphasis on privacy on Apple's site?