Voice conversations have been enabled by WhatsApp Groups as long as there are a lot of users, but the messaging app is now lifting the restrictions and enabling voice chats for smaller groups as well.

For a short while, voice conversations were popular, with applications like Clubhouse making a lot of money. Now, WhatsApp is making the capability available to more people. Over the next several days, WhatsApp will roll out the new Group functionality to both iOS and Android users.

How WhatsApp Voice Chat Operates in Small Groups

Because it essentially enables a small group of WhatsApp users to start a voice chat akin to a personal podcast, the company is referring to the latest version as a new audio hangout.

Additionally, WhatsApp notes that initiating a voice conversation won’t alert or ring anybody (the user), making it simple to join or exit the group at any time.

While new users may join at any time and see who else has previously done so, the platform also keeps the voice chat pinned to the bottom of your conversation so you can quickly access call settings. The upgrade introduces to WhatsApp the functionality that Clubhouse and X Space have provided with their individual platforms.

How do you initiate these voice conversations in a WhatsApp group, then? To enable voice chat in the group, just slide up from the chat box at the bottom of your conversation and hold it for a few seconds.

We were able to test the functionality on WhatsApp on our Android phone, and it already works for groups of three people. By following these instructions, you may quickly start a voice conversation.

Why Now?

WhatsApp promises that voice conversations are automatically safeguarded by end-to-end encryption, just like all other chats, calls, and media files, but it doesn’t explain why this feature was necessary to roll out at this time.