WhatsApp is launching a less disruptive voice chat function for larger groups

The Meta-owned firm WhatsApp revealed on Monday that it is launching a new voice chat function for large groups that is similar to Discord. The new feature is meant to cause less disruption than ringing all of the group members during a group call. You tap the in-chat bubble to join a voice chat, which begins silently and without any ringing.

With this function, you can continue messaging individuals who are unable to join while conversing with those who can. By selecting the call controls at the top of the conversation, you may easily unmute, hang up, or message the group without having to exit the audio chat.

Over the next few weeks, the business will begin offering audio chats to large groups worldwide, beginning with those that have 33 or more members. WhatsApp states that end-to-end encryption is used by default to secure voice conversations.

Voice chats on WhatsApp enable big groups of people to interact with spoken discussions, much like their voice chat counterparts on Discord, Telegram, and Slack. The introduction of the new feature is hardly shocking, as WABetaInfo revealed in August that WhatsApp was doing beta testing of audio chats.

The announcement made today coincides with WhatsApp’s recent spate of feature additions to the platform. Users can now use two accounts at once thanks to a recent company rollout. In order to improve the shopping experience, it also included passkey support for Android users and new “Flows” features that allow users to make appointments or select a seat on a flight without ever leaving the app.

A few weeks prior to the launch, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed during the company’s Q3 earnings call that over 600 million interactions occur daily between businesses and customers across its platforms. In Q3, Zuckerberg reported that the WhatsApp Business platform generated $293 million in revenue, up 53% from the previous year. This money was primarily derived from the family of apps.