You can now preview your WhatsApp voice messages before sending them

Whatsapp Message Hero
Whatsapp Message Hero (Image credit: Luke Filipowicz / iMore)

What you need to know

  • WhatsApp now allows people to preview voice messages before sending them.
  • People can listen to and then re-record messages as required.

The popular instant messaging app WhatsApp has changed the way voice messages work, giving people the chance to preview them before they are sent. The move should help ensure that people don't send unintelligible voice messages to a poor unsuspecting recipient.

The move, announced via Twitter, means that people will now have the chance to re-record a message if they don't feel that they got it right the first — or seventh! — time. It's a simple change, but one that could prove to be very useful for heavy voice message users.

WhatsApp is one of the best iPhone apps at what it does, but it still has its problems. Right now, one of those problems is that it doesn't always actually work. Some WhatsApp users report that the app refuses to load properly and instead crashes back to the Home screen. The problem doesn't appear to be caused by the recent iOS 15.2 update, despite initial reports.

It doesn't appear that any new WhatsApp update is required to get the new voice messaging feature. Anyone who doesn't yet have WhatsApp installed can download it for free from the App Store right now. It really is a great option for anyone who regularly needs to communicate with people using Android devices, for example.

Would you rather avoid WhatsApp for some reason — like the fact it's owned by Meta? These are the best WhatsApp alternatives we've come across.

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.