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Google Chat finally adds a feature that basically every other messaging app had for years
Voice messages come to the platform 11 years after WhatsApp
Google Chat is the company’s not-so-popular chat app, coming in as the official substitute for Google Hangouts in the Workspace suite. It is perfectly suited for messaging your Gmail contacts informally, or discussing things in an SMS-like format instead of several emails sent back and forth. However, Chat is rudimentary and lacking several modern-day amenities we may take for granted in our favorite messaging apps. Support for voice notes is one such feature, and Google just announced it is finally headed for release in the Chat app.
Self-destructing voice notes have launched for some WhatsApp beta testers
The feature is expected to roll out to more users in the coming days
Many privacy-driven instant messaging apps have rolled out some version of view-once messages. These allow users to send text and media that can only be opened once by the recipient. Of course, workarounds like screenshots can still be a concern depending on the app you’re using. However, it can provide some peace of mind, assuming you’re also exchanging messages with people you trust. Now, WhatsApp is rolling out this type of feature, specifically for voice messages sent on the app.
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WhatsApp's interface is starting to look dated, especially now that Google has announced the latest iteration of its design guidelines during its developer conference, Material You. But the messenger app is making small adjustments here and there to keep things fresh, like new wallpaper theming options. And as spotted by WABetaInfo, voice messages are in for a tweak next.
Signal is catching up to WhatsApp in the voice messaging department (APK Download)
The latest Signal Beta introduces playback controls, including a slower option
Signal is probably the best option out there if you want a truly secure and private messenger on your phone, even despite the recent controversies around its server code and its crypto features. The private chat app has long been trying to outdo WhatsApp in the feature department to give people even more incentives to switch, and now, the service is continuing this effort with new features concerning voice messages.
WhatsApp makes voice message speed controls available for everyone
It's gradually rolling out to all users
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Some people speak faster than others. Some listen faster than others. If the discrepancy gets on your nerves, specifically when you're listening to a voice message someone left you in WhatsApp, you might want to hop on the beta channel. The option to increase playback speed (as seen in some podcast managers) is now rolling out to beta users.
Google Duo's captions for audio and video messages are rolling out
The day when everyone gets real-time call captioning will be a good one
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We aren't at the point yet where every Android phone is able to transcribe voice calls in real time, but what Google is doing with its video chat service Duo is a good first step: the app is now enabling captions for recorded voice and video messages.
You can now use Assistant to send audio clips in Google Messages hands-free
WhatsApp voice messages supported, too
Do you trade more voice messages than texts with your contacts? You may appreciate the ability to do that with the help of Google Assistant as it gains dedicated command branches for sending clips. That means you can even do it hands-free while driving!
With Allo shuttered, Google has decided to focus its messaging efforts on Messages and RCS (for the time being, at least). Since Google Messages was originally meant as a simple SMS app, the company has had to do a fair bit of work to make it a true competitor against established players like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. To reach feature parity with them, Messages is testing the addition of an instantly accessible microphone button to help you communicate via voice more easily.
Ever since the controversy arose surrounding Google training its voice recognition technology using human contractors, barely a week goes by without another company admitting to the same. While the practice doesn't come as a surprise to many familiar with the underlying technology, no company thought of clearly stating what they were doing, which is not a good idea considering rising privacy awareness among customers and regulators. Bloomberg found out that the same is true for Facebook Messenger, affecting users who turned on voice-to-text for audio messages.
A new version of Allo is rolling out just in time for the holidays. If you're thinking about singing Christmas carols or wishing somebody a happy new year, things are going to get a little more interesting thanks to the latest update. Your audio messages will now be automatically transcribed to text, so people can decide when to listen and have some idea of what they're going to be hearing. There's also a clue that may suggest threaded conversations will be supported. We're still poking around for other changes, but let us know in the comments if you stumble across anything else.
We've covered a lot of what Google Allo can do as a messaging application, but we haven't yet scratched the surface of one of its most interesting features: Assistant. It lives as a standalone chat, but also as a bot ready to answer any question inside your other conversations (not the Incognito ones though, as we've said before) by just mentioning @google.