Popular messaging app WhatsApp has introduced Voice Messages
for users across platforms that will allow users to send recorded messages to
their contacts. The introduction comes on the day the service crossed 300
million monthly active users.
A company spokesperson told CNET ,“Today, we’re proud to
announce that WhatsApp has surpassed 300 million monthly active users
worldwide, a milestone on the road to WhatsApp becoming the communication
network of the 21st century.”
As far as the new Voice Message service is concerned,
WhatsApp’s team wrote in a blog post,
We are releasing Voice Messages on all of our platforms
simultaneously. We worked very hard to make sure that iPhone and Android
devices are perfectly working Voice Messages functionality, and we put extra
effort into making sure that BlackBerry, Nokia and Windows Phone users can
enjoy the same rich and powerful Voice Messaging experience.
So how exactly does the service work? For Android, iPhone
and Windows Phone 8 devices, users will now see a microphone icon next to the
box where they type messages. Just press and hold the icon to record till the
end of your message.
Once you release the icon, the voice message will
automatically be sent to the recipient. To cancel a recording, just slide your
hand across the microphone icon and it will be cancelled.
BlackBerry users (those who have older devices with
keyboards) can press the space bar while Nokia Symbian users can simply hold
the centre button to start recording the message.
Once they release the buttons the message will be sent
automatically.
To cancel recordings users can just hold the ‘end call’
button on the Nokia Symbian and BlackBerry devices.
Each voice message also has a microphone icon next to it.
When you send someone a voice message the icon will turn blue indicating that
the person has read the message.
There is no limit to how long the voice message can be. When
it comes to Android and iOS devices, the voice message switches off from
speaker mode automatically when you hold the device next to your ear.
Whatsapp’s move comes at a time when the BlackBerry is
preparing to launch its BBM messenger for Android and iPhones. The latest
version of BBM allows video-calling, screen share and voice messages.
Other than BBM, WhatsApp also other serious contenders such
as the WeChat app, which recently launched in India and according to a new
report, is the among the five most used apps worldwide. WhatsApp is number nine
according to that list and even Facebook’s Messenger app is ahead.
Will Voice Messages help WhatsApp go from 300 million users
to 400? We’ll have to wait and see. Tell us in the comments if you will use the
new feature of WhatsApp and what you think of it.