Facebook puts all of its audio features into a new tab in the iPhone app

By Oliver Haslam
published

Facebook
Facebook (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Facebook is changing the way people access audio features in its iPhone app.
  • A new Audio tab will be available within the Facebook Watch section.

As of right now, Facebook is rolling out a change that will put features like Live Audio Rooms and podcasts into their own section of the iPhone app. The change is only happening in the United States for now, however.

According to a TechCrunch report, all US-based users aged 18 and older are now set to see the features move around. Tapping the Watch tab will bring up a redesigned interface that now not only houses video but audio as well.

Live Audio Rooms, Facebook's answer to Clubhouse, is also rolling out to users worldwide as well.

New Facebook Audio Tab

New Facebook Audio Tab (Image credit: Facebook)

Facebook is expanding its investment in audio initiatives with the launch of a new "Audio" destination in its mobile app in the U.S., where users will be able to discover in one place all the audio formats Facebook now hosts, including podcasts, Live Audio Rooms, and short-form audio. The company says it's also making its Clubhouse rival, Live Audio Rooms, more broadly available to global users, and is beginning to roll out a new product called Soundbites, a sort of TikTok for audio offering short audio clips.

Facebook believes that the move will make it easier for people to find creators' work, while the new section will only show those creators that people have already found at launch. Personalized recommendations will begin to surface new content, however.

If you aren't yet seeing the new Audio section, give it time. These changes can sometimes take a little while to reach everyone — and as for those not living in the United States, you're going to need to wait a little bit longer still.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.