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WhatsApp to support locked recordings

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The voice message recording feature is one of the most widely used on WhatsApp.
Since its introduction, it has remained largely unchanged, and there have been very few improvements over time up to now.
Despite being heavily used, even major features like this can still present usability issues in everyday use.


Over the past few years, WhatsApp users have often asked to remove the need to hold the mic icon. Users consider this very uncomfortable, especially when recording long voice messages. However, this change may finally arrive in the coming months. Specifically, WhatsApp is testing a way to record voice messages without needing to keep the button pressed. This action will replace the current hold-to-record gesture.

How locked recoding works:

When you want to record a voice message on WhatsApp, after 0.5 seconds a new interface will appear for the microphone button.

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You will need to slide your finger upward to activate the lock.

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WhatsApp will update the interface so that you can now move around the chat while recording, without needing to keep holding the microphone button.

Current limitations:

  1. It is not possible to view a photo or video while recording a locked voice message. On iPhone 6S and newer, you need to use 3D Touch to preview it.
  2. You cannot type a new message while recording a locked voice message. You must stop the recording first before writing anything.
  3. While recording a locked voice message, switching to another chat is not fully supported.

There are other limitations as well, but they appear to be bugs that should be fixed before the feature is fully released. WhatsApp is still testing this feature, so it is normal if, even after updating to the 2.17.80 version, locked voice messages are not available yet. The feature will be enabled in future updates once stability issues are resolved.

Let us know on X if you like this feature.

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