WhatsApp has started rolling out a new voice chat feature for large groups. The feature allows group members to talk to each other, but in a different way than a group chat.
With the new voice chats you can talk with others in a WhatsApp group, but each group member chooses to participate or not. The new feature, which was leaked in August, will be rolled out starting today. Voice chats should be less annoying than a group chat, where everyone is connected.
If someone in a group starts a new voice chat, you won’t receive an incoming call on your phone. You will only receive a notification that a voice chat has started. You can then decide for yourself whether you want to participate in the discussion or not.
Chase the competition
During voice chat, you can still send text messages to the group. This is useful for group members who cannot listen at that moment. The new voice chats in WhatsApp groups are very similar to the voice chats that have been possible with Discord, Telegram, and Slack for some time.
Meta will roll out voice chats to large WhatsApp groups in the coming weeks, starting with groups with 33 or more members. Voice calls are secured with end-to-end encryption as standard. It is not yet known when small WhatsApp groups will get this functionality.
WhatsApp channels
WhatsApp also recently launched the popular Channels feature, which lets you send messages to followers. Our Bright WhatsApp channel is now one of the most popular channels in the Netherlands. Click here to follow us.
