Lazy to write an SMS or even to dictate it to your mobile? You can go even faster by sending a voice message. A simple solution, present in many apps, and very popular with the youngest!
The voice message is a bit like the answering machine of the XXIand century. Very fashionable among teenagers, it allows you to do away with typing on the keyboard to enter an SMS or a text message in a messaging app. Instead, we record his voice. The missive is then encapsulated in an audio file which is then sent in the form of an MMS to the correspondent. He then only has to press the play button to listen to it.
The interest? Save time by not typing anything on the keyboard or even correcting a message that you have dictated to your smartphone. At the same time, the voice message also makes it possible not to speak directly to the correspondent, in order to avoid phone calls which can last for hours or to explain manipulations which would take too long to type on the keyboard.
A practice that the developers of WhatsApp, Meta’s instant messaging application, have clearly understood by offering some new features mainly focused on voice messages in the coming weeks. We understand them. According to Meta, more than 7 billion are exchanged via WhatsApp worldwide… every day! On the program of celebrations, the possibility of listening to a message without the app remaining in the foreground, the appearance of a waveform to navigate more easily in the message during reading (by identifying moments of silence for example), the possibility of reading a message in accelerated or of pausing it and resuming its reading without restarting it from the beginning. But WhatsApp is obviously not the only messaging app to offer the sending and reading of voice messages. The Messages apps of iOS and Android also comply with this mode, as do Skype or even Messenger from Meta. Here’s how to take advantage of it.
Apple never does anything like everyone else, it’s well known. Also, if you want to send a voice message by SMS from your iPhone, you must make sure that your correspondent also has an iPhone! If this one uses an Android smartphone, it’s a waste of time. He won’t receive anything, not even a notification! A problem that should be solved when the Digital Markets Act comes into force, normally in January 2023 (read our article to understand the issues, particularly on messaging interoperability).
► Open the Messages app on your iPhone. Select the contact to whom you want to send a voice message. Press and hold the icon waveform placed to the right of the message input field.
► Speak to speak your message. The corresponding waveform is displayed. Release the button when you’re done. You can listen to your recording before sending it by pressing the button Reading. If you are satisfied, press the point up arrow. Otherwise, press the cross to the left and repeat the operation.
► You can also send the message directly without listening to it by swiping your finger up, down the arrowas soon as you finish saying it.
With an Android smartphone, you can send an audio message to any device, whether it is an Android mobile or an iPhone.
► Open the Google Messages app. Select the contact to whom you want to send a voice message. Press and hold the icon microphone to the right of the text entry field.
► Speak to announce your message. Release the button when it’s done.
► You can listen to the message before sending it by pressing the button Reading. If you are not satisfied, press the cross and start the operation again. If you are satisfied with your voice message, press the button.mail.
The favorite messaging app for teens obviously has a function for sending voice messages.
► Open the WhatsApp app. Select the contact to whom you want to send a voice message. If you want to send a voice message without listening to it first, press and hold the green icon (or blue on iOS) representing a mic to the right of the text entry field.
► Speak to speak your message. Release the button when it’s done. The message is sent directly.
► If you want to listen to your message before sending it, tap the icon of the microphone and drag it up to the padlock.
► The recording mode is then activated. You can release the button and start speaking your message. When it is finished, press the red button Stop.
► You can listen to it by pressing the button Reading. If it suits you press the buttonmail. Otherwise, press the icon of the trash can to delete it and try the operation again.
Messenger, Meta’s other instant messaging app, uses the same pattern as WhatsApp for sending voice messages.
► Open the Messenger app. Select the contact to whom you want to send a voice message. If you want to send a voice message without listening to it first, press and hold the icon representing a mic to the left of the text entry field. If it does not appear, press the arrow to the left of the input field.
► Speak to speak your message. Release the button when it’s done. The message is sent directly.
► If you want to listen to your message before sending it, tap the icon of the microphone and drag it up to the padlock.
► The recording mode is then activated. You can release the button and start speaking your message. When it is finished, press the button Pause.
► You can listen to it by pressing the button Reading. If it suits you, press the send button. Small subtlety: you can once again hold the icon of the microphone to complete your initial message. Practice. If your message does not suit you, press the icon the bin to delete it and try the operation again.
Although present for many years on smartphones, Skype has evolved relatively little. The messaging functions and in particular the voice messages are not up to what its competitors offer. Here, it is impossible to listen to a message before it is sent. You are warned.
► Open the Skype application then select the contact to whom you wish to send a voice message. Then press the icon in the shape of a microphone placed to the right of the message input field. Recording starts.
► Speak to speak your message. No waveform here. Only a stopwatch is displayed. When you have finished your message, press the button tomail (right) to ship it directly. If you are unsure, press the cross (left) to cancel the operation and start over.
