WhatsApp, vocal chats are now on all groups: how they work and why they can be very useful

Originally available only for groups from 33 to 256 peoplethe vocal chats of WhatsApp They now also land on the smallest ones (from 3 participants up). Difference compared to video calls? They are much less invasive. In addition to not triggering notifications or ringtones when they are started, they are in fact configured as a sort of open channel in which anyone can enter and exit at any time. A digital agora in fact not dissimilar from rooms who had made the fortune of Clubhouse At the time of Covid and which had then been rapidly implemented also by competing platforms such as Telegram and Discord.

Rollout in progress

« Whether it is a compelling football match, an intense seasonal final or the sharing of an important news, sometimes it is necessary to talk about it with who is available at that moment », says the official note relating to the novelty. Rollout started in recent days both on iOS and on Android: once completed, it will make this new method of communication available to all over 3 billion of active users monthly on the service. Starting it is very simple: just go to the bottom of the list of messages of the chosen group, Scroll again upwards, hold down for a few seconds and finally select the « colleague » button. At that point the vocal chat bar will remain anchored for all its duration – automatic closing if nobody intervenes for 60 minutes -, leaving the remaining members the possibility of choose whether to join with a simple touch or continue what they were doing both inside and outside the app.

Do not disturb

At the basis of this discreetness lies the fact that the functionality is designed to provide one more direct and immediate way to converse compared to classic text or vocal messages. Instead of clogging the group, users engaged in a certain discussion can therefore open an ad hoc room and conclude your exchange of opinions without involving or disturbing others. Translated: less risk for the latter to suddenly see the dozens of new messages that do not concern them, frequent dynamics even in the most narrowed groups suddenly to rain on their smartphones. Finally as the always fundamental theme of privacynothing changes compared to what happened so far: like all communications that travel on WhatsApp, these chats are also protected by end-to-end encryption. About discreetness.