• by Colin Kirkland , August 7, 2023

WhatsApp has announced a beta version of its new voice chat feature that invites users to connect in groups of up to 32 people for a spoken session on the app.

The new feature, which resembles chat capabilities on Telegram, Discord, Slack and Meta's Messenger app, is now rolling out to Android testers.

According to beta notes published by WABetaInfo, the voice chats update is accessible via a waveform icon that is visible in compatible group chats. Tapping on the icon will launch the voice chat and a dedicated interface. From there, any group member, up to 32 people, will be able to join the chat and start speaking.

This differs from the app's existing group calls feature in that group voice chats will not cause everyone's phone to ring. Every group participant will instead receive a silent push notification when a new chat is created in their groups. After everyone leaves the chat, the session will remain active for up to one hour, and then will automatically end.

Aligning with WhatsApp’s other messaging capabilities, voice chats are end-to-end encrypted.