WhatsApp Prepares Voice Message Widget, Revamps Group Chat Settings

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WhatsApp is working on two new features to make its messaging app easier to use. The company is developing a home screen widget for voice messages and redesigning the group chat info screen. However, it has not shared any word on the public rollout.

WhatsApp may bring these two new features in a future update

Folks over at WABetaInfo recently discovered a dedicated WhatsApp voice message widget on Android. The widget will let users record a voice note right from their phone’s home screen without opening the messaging app. It will come with a default size of 3×1, with the ability to resize on the home screen.

Image: WABetaInfo

This feature is undoubtedly a quality-of-life improvement, particularly if you often send voice notes. Now you do not need to open WhatsApp to find a chat and then record a message. Simply start recording straight from the home screen with a tap on the widget. After finishing the record, you can select a recipient and send the voice note immediately.

The best thing is that you can send the same voice message to multiple contacts at once. This removes the need to forward a voice note to different chats after recording it.

Apart from the new widget, WhatsApp is also revamping the group chat info screen. According to WABetaInfo, the redesigned interface is currently available to some WhatsApp beta testers. You will now see two new sections: Preferences and Privacy. The goal is to nicely organize settings and make them easier to locate.

Image: WABetaInfo

The Preferences section includes Chat Theme, Media Visibility, and Manage Storage. Meanwhile, the Privacy section houses Chat Lock and Encryption. While these features are already present in WhatsApp, they were previously scattered across the group info screen. Now the company has grouped them into dedicated categories.

As of now, it is unclear when WhatsApp plans to bring these features to the stable channel. Hopefully, the rollout won’t take too long.

Written by

Binay Konwar

Binay Konwar started his blogging journey in 2014 and has since written plenty of tech articles. At present, he is working as a News Writer at SammyGuru, covering everything about Samsung. He holds a Master's degree in Mathematics, but his real passion lies in tech and writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing chess and watching movies.

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