[imagesource: Reuters]

There are two kinds of people in this world – those who phone you unannounced and those that message first to check if now is a good time.

We applaud the latter approach.

Poorly-timed phone calls can also be done away with in lieu of a voicenote that can be listened to in due course.

Enter the long, rambling, ‘I don’t have a game plan here’ voicenotes that bring their own set of problems and solutions. The ability to speed them up by clicking on the 1x, 1,5x or 2x that is alongside the play/pause button is a game-changer.

Even a five-minute voicenote doubled in speed can still be a bit of a las, especially because you can’t exit WhatsApp and have it play in the background while you return to Instagram to judge others.

That could soon be rectified, reports The Indian Express, and not a moment too soon:

WhatsApp will reportedly soon allow users to play voice notes in the background. This will let you play a voice note and exit that particular chat window. Users will then be able to hear the voice note while checking or replying to other chats or group conversations…

Playing a voice note while navigating through the rest of the app also shows you a new playback bar above your main WhatsApp screen.

At this stage, it’s unclear when the update will be rolled out. The screenshot below shows a new playback bar above the main WhatsApp screen:

Image: WABetaInfo

It’s still unclear whether the voicenote will continue to play if you exit WhatsApp altogether and use another app.

Surely that has to be on the to-do list? Perhaps it’s one step at a time and they’ll just start with in-app playback before adding that feature.

I’ll be far more willing to listen to longer voicenotes, at 1,5x or 2x speed, if I can tinker with other apps while doing so.

And please, go into your voicenote with a game plan. There’s a person on the other side forced to listen to it, remember?

[source:indianexpress]