• December 15, 2021
• admin

Here’s a simple, but handy addition. Today, WhatsApp has added a new option to preview your voice messages before you send them, so you can feel more confident that you sound as you expect.

Whether it’s a hilarious story or an important announcement, there are often times when it’s easier to send a voice note than a written message on WhatsApp.

While standard voice messages send automatically after you record them, this can lead to awkward errors, forcing you to re-send your recording.

But help is at hand, as WhatsApp has launched a new Voice Message Previews tool.

WhatsApp explained: ‘Now you can preview your voice message on WhatsApp before you send it, perfect for those moments when you want to get your message just right.’

If, of course, you’re comfortable hearing your own voice on a recording.

For most of us, hearing our own voice played back can be a jarring experience, as you don’t sound, externally, like you do in your own head. But if you’re over the cringe factor, it could be a handy way to ensure your voice messages are as you intended, which could help improve communication via the option.

Thankfully, the new Voice Message Preview option means you can vet your recording before deciding whether or not to send it.

To access the new feature, open an individual or group chat and touch the microphone icon in the bottom right corner.

Slide it up to lock hands-free recording, before speaking.

Once you’ve finished, tap Stop. Next, tap Play to listen to your recording. You can also tap any part of the recording to play it from that timestamp.

Finally, tap the trash can to delete the voice message, or tap send to send it.

Voice messaging is particularly popular in India, where many languages are spoken, but not everyone can read and write every dialect as well as they may be able to interpret such via voice. That’s why Meta has been working to add in more voice features, and may well be why Clubhouse is seeing ongoing success in the Indian market, which is now key to its future growth.

The launch of the new tool comes shortly after WhatsApp expanded its Disappearing Messages feature with the choice for chats to self-destruct after 24 hours of 90 days, as well as the existing seven day option.

Turning on the Disappearing Messages feature makes all new messages disappear from a chosen chat after the user’s specified period of time.

People might want to choose to delete their messages for a personal reason. For example, they may contain sensitive information they don’t want accessible anywhere – not even on WhatsApp, which is end-to-end encrypted.

WhatsApp is the most used messaging app in the region, by a big margin, and as such, adding more voice features into the process could be a big help in maximizing utility, and keeping people connecting via WhatsApp messages.

And it could also be handy to re-check what you’re sharing, and ensuring that there’s no room for misinterpretation.

It’s a fairly basic addition, but a potentially valuable one nonetheless.