Soon, WhatsApp will let you play voice messages in notifications
What's the story
In a bid to make things more convenient for iOS users, WhatsApp is testing a handy new feature - the ability to play audio messages from notifications. The feature was spotted in the latest beta version of the messaging platform and is expected to expand further in the near future. Here's all you need to know about it.
Feature
WhatsApp audio messages require users to open conversations
As things currently stand, WhatsApp allows users to see messages from notifications. The capability proves handy in daily usage, but the thing is, it only works for incoming text messages, not audio messages. Voice messages show up in the notification shade, but you still have to open the conversation to listen to them, which many users find time consuming.
Change
Now, WhatsApp has fixed it for iOS users
Now, to tackle the problem of audio messages, WhatsApp beta for iOS is introducing playback in the notification bar itself, popular tipster WABetaInfo reported. The feature will let you play/pause an audio message or voice recording received on the messaging service. This would work in the same way how you control music from the notification shade when a music player, say Spotify, is running.
Beta test
Currently, the feature is being tested in beta
Currently, the audio playback feature is only enabled for a few users who are running the latest beta version (v2.19.91.1) of WhatsApp for iOS. There's no word on its stable release (either for iOS or Android) but we expect that more iOS beta testers will see the capability in the future. To note, WABetaInfo says reinstalling the app may help with activating the feature.
Other features
WhatsApp is getting some interesting features
The latest feature comes just as WhatsApp continues to build new capabilities for Android and iOS users. This includes a full-fledged dark mode as well as an option to create videos looped in reverse as we do on Instagram. Finally, there is also the fancy capability of playing voice messages one after the other as well as the frequently forwarded label.