WhatsApp update finally fixes voice note gripe

New Global Voice Note Player feature will be coming to more than 2 billion users of the messaging app

WhatsApp voice notes will no longer force users to stay in the chat to listen to them on Android (iStock)

WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature for Android users that will finally fix a frustrating issue with how voice notes work in the app.

The latest update is already available to certain WhatsApp users on Android using the 2.22.7.11 version, and will be free for everyone to use in the near future.

The Global Voice Note Player feature will allow WhatsApp users to switch between chats while a voice note is playing, when previously the message would only play while open in the chat that it was sent in.

The feature is already available on rival messaging app Telegram for all users, and its introduction to WhatsApp in 2022 follows a pattern of the Meta-owned platform launching similar functionality.

The trend prompted Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov to write an entire blog post about it in 2014, in which he noted: “If you still use WhatsApp and don’t want to wait, jump on board.”

Despite record growth for Telegram last year, WhatsApp continues to have a far bigger user base, making it more difficult to launch new features. As of January 2022, WhatsApp had more than 2 billion daily active users compared to roughly half a billion for Telegram.

WhatsApp has already introduced its latest voice notes feature on WhatsApp Desktop beta and WhatsApp beta for iOS, according to the site Wabetainfo, which tracks new features and updates for the popular messaging app.

The website also noted that the new feature is also compatible with incoming and outgoing audio files.

“If you don’t see the new player while playing a voice note and switching to a different chat thread, don’t worry: the feature has been rolled out to certain beta testers, and more activations will be following later,” the site explained.

“Thanks to this feature, you will be able to play voice notes even if you switch to a different conversation so you can send a message to a different contact while you’re playing a voice note received in another chat.”