The trend of Voice messaging is not that new; it started with the walkie-talkie devices in the Second World War. Nowadays, it has become a new phase of digital communication. Apps like WhatsApp, Viber, and Facebook Messenger were the first to introduce this feature. The apps have made it pretty simple, and all it requires for you is to press your thumb on the screen. The principle is pretty simple and is based on the ‘answering machine.’
Instagram started as a pure photo-sharing app, where you could share only one photo at a time. However, to survive, it had to evolve to keep with the modern trends of digital communication. Instagram has since evolved and introduced a bunch of other features as well, such as direct messaging, sharing more than one photo at a time, linking all your social accounts together, etc. It got rid of the fake followers just recently.
Instagram has also joined the fray of apps having this feature. Although, other apps have already introduced this feature and made it available to the user. But, better late than never is still a good thing.
Instagram has also recognized the changing trends in the digital world. Now the next phase of communication is voice messaging. The previous phase was the text phase, and everyone has aptly communicated via text to their heart’s content. Now, most people have started to communicate via voice messaging instead of texting and Instagram doesn’t want to lag. They introduced the feature on Dec 11, 2018, Monday in a pretty casual Tweet which informed the users about the new feature:
Starting today, you can send voice messages in Direct. Talk the way you want to be heard, whether by whispering what you’re up to or shouting a compliment. pic.twitter.com/3rkdQneNXO
— Instagram (@instagram) December 10, 2018
The mechanism for sending an audio message is relatively simple. All you need to do to send a voice message is this:
- Open the message icon user interface in the app and then tap and hold the mic button, say what you have to say and release the button.
- Your message will be sent to the desired user.
Instagram also introduced another way of sending an audio message. Tap on the message icon and then hold your phone to your ear, you will hear a beep, you can then start speaking once you are done you can then tap the message icon to send. To hear the message all you need to do is to tap the play button and then you can listen through the phone speaker or the main speaker. Instagram also has its new layout in the pipeline.
Instagram is working on voice messaging!
It appears to be non-functional as of now but the code indicates: "Voice message, press and hold to record" pic.twitter.com/897D5l57co
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) August 21, 2018
The feature was first revealed to the public by a blogger who tweeted about the feature on her account. At that time only the mic button without the functionality was added to the App a few months ago. Users could see the button but they could not use it to send voice messages initially.
Stay tuned for more updates!