Back in October last year, we reported WhatsApp is working on a new global voice player, allowing users to play voice messages anywhere in the app. The Meta-owned company appears to have made significant headway in developing the feature, as we just got a glimpse of what the UI looks like, thanks to tipster WABetainfo.
As you can see in the above screenshot, the global voice message player appears on the top and includes a progress bar. Once the feature is available, you’ll be able to listen to WhatsApp voice messages even when you leave chats. In other words, you’ll no longer need to remain inside the chatbox to keep listening to the voice message. You’ll also be able to pause, dismiss the voice message at any time.
The feature will be very useful, especially when you’re listening to long voice messages. You’ll be able to reply to messages from other chats and access different sections of the app while still listening to the voice message.
The feature was spotted on WhatsApp beta for Android 2.22.3.1, but the iOS client will also get the feature in a future update.
As noted by WABetainfo, the feature is currently in the developmental stage and will be available for the beta testers when it’s ready. However, we don’t know when the feature will be rolled out to WhatsApp beta testers.