WhatsApp could soon change your chat experience with new voice message feature

WhatsApp is reportedly adding granular improvements to its voice message feature on iOS. Currently, when you get a notification for a voice message, you have to open the app to be able to listen to it. Unlike the texts and photos, the voice messages cannot be played from the notification shade. WhatsApp is now testing preview for voice messages in the notification panel on iOS.

As per the screenshot shared by WABetaInfo, the voice message now shows the play button along with the navigation bar in the notifications blob. The feature is in the testing stage, which is why the TestFlight users cannot see it yet, says WABetaInfo. There is no word on when this feature will make it to the stable version or whether it will undergo testing for the Android platform.

That said, the report suggests that the voice message preview feature will be a part of a big update that will be pushed in line with iOS 13. One of the notable features that are set to arrive with iOS 13 includes Dark Mode, which is being ambitiously awaited by users. But again, there is no concrete timeline for the rollout. It is also believed that dark mode will reach iOS before Android.

Separately, WhatsApp landed in hot water again after security researchers found that hackers are using images, shared on WhatsApp, to spread nefarious codes that can compromise users’ data. The short time interval between a smartphone writing a media file to external storage and displaying it in an app can be exploited by hackers using “media file jacking”, said researchers at Symantec.

While WhatsApp responded to the concerns by iterating it will continue to provide “updates in line with Android’s ongoing development”. The same exploit was found impacting Telegram as well but Telegram did not provide a statement.