WhatsApp lets users pause recording voice messages

WhatsApp will release several new voice messaging features in the coming weeks, including the ability to pause recording voice messages. In addition, it will be possible to listen to recordings of others outside the chat.

The chat service talks about six new features, including the ability to listen back to voice messages before sending. However, this feature has been in the app since December. Among other things, being able to pause voice messages while recording is new for the chat app.

The pause feature was discovered in a beta version of the service in October and complements the ability to listen back to chats. Users can press the pause button in the chat app and the recording will pause. Now the recording can only be played back, but soon a microphone will appear instead of the pause button. Pressing that microphone button continues recording.

Other new features include the ability to listen to voice messages outside of chat. Now users still have to stay in the chat to listen to the messages, and the messages stop when the chat is closed. Users will see a player at the top of the screen for the voice message.

WhatsApp will continue to remember where a user has listened to a voice message, even if the chat is closed. When users open the chat again, users can continue listening to the recording from that point. For the update, the recording will start again from the beginning. Voice messages have been in WhatsApp since 2013. Today, seven billion voice messages are sent every day, according to WhatsApp.