WhatsApp’s new audio chat feature: What you need to know!

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, is reportedly developing a new feature called Audio Chat for the popular messaging platform’s group chats.

This feature was recently discovered in a WhatsApp beta update, indicating that it is still in its early stages and may not be available to the public just yet.

Based on early screenshots of the feature, which were shared by WaBetaInfo, Audio Chat appears to be accessible through a new waveform icon located at the top of the group chat.

However, the feature does not appear to be functional at this time, so its full capabilities remain unknown.

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It is not yet clear how Audio Chat will differ from the existing audio recording feature in WhatsApp. Nonetheless, once an Audio Chat has been initiated, there will be a “hang up” button at the top of the screen.

This early UI, coupled with the fact that the audio recording feature remains untouched, suggests that Audio Chat may function similarly to other voice chat platforms, such as Slack Huddles, Twitter Spaces, and Discord voice chats.

These platforms allow group members to participate in voice conversations on a flexible basis.

In recent months, Meta has shifted its focus towards improving the group chat capabilities of WhatsApp, which remains a widely popular platform in Europe and other markets.

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Even Samsung utilizes WhatsApp for its customer support channels. In a recent update, the company added support for group video calls with up to eight people, as well as audio calls with up to 32 participants, for WhatsApp on Windows.

It is currently unknown when the Audio Chat feature will become available for Samsung phones and other Android devices, or whether the Audio Chat UI will remain the same as seen in the early beta screenshot above.

Beta updates are rarely provided with a stable roadmap, so it is difficult to determine when the feature will become publicly available and how it may change over time.