Twitter adds feature allowing users to tweet with their voice from iPhone

In total users could upload voice recordings for just under an hour, separated into 140-second posts

Adam Smith
Thursday 18 June 2020 10:05 BST
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They deleted several tweets from Mr Clarke
They deleted several tweets from Mr Clarke (AP)

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Twitter is adding new functionality to its iPhone app, so users can now tweet with their voice.

Tapping the button to compose a tweet will now show a new button with a wavelength icon. Hitting it pop up a record button, which will capture 140 seconds of audio.

“Sometimes 280 characters aren’t enough and some conversational nuances are lost in translation. So starting today, we’re testing a new feature that will add a more human touch to the way we use Twitter — your very own voice,” Twitter designer Maya Patterson and engineer Rémy Bourgoin wrote in a blog post.

It is possible to record for longer, however. “Have more to say? Keep talking. Once you reach the time limit for a tweet, a new voice tweet starts automatically to create a thread,” Twitter said.

Messages longer than that will be automatically threaded, up to 25 tweets. This gives people a total of 3,500 seconds, or just under an hour, of voice content to upload, according to a Twitter help page.

For now, voice tweets are only functional for stand-alone posts; there is no way to quote-tweet with a voice note, or reply with one yet.

(Credit: Twitter
(Credit: Twitter (Credit: Twitter)

Your voice note will be accompanied with your profile picture on the timeline, but that will not update if you change your image.

On iOS, when users tap play, a dock will be created at the bottom of the app so people can continue listening as they scroll through Twitter, as well as when they leave the app.

It is currently unclear how such tweets will be moderated by Twitter, at a time when the company is under pressure by the US government for its actions regarding Donald Trump’s account.

Mr Trump recently signed an executive order which limits protections given to all companies for user content on their platform – whether that’s a multinational corporation or a small blog – in a move that could have wide ramifications for the internet.

This is not the only experiment Twitter is running on its platform. The company is also testing replying to tweets with emoji, prompting users to read articles before sharing them, and asking them to “revise” tweets that use rude or “harmful” language.

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