In the coming weeks, WhatsApp will receive improved voice messages

WhatsApp stated on Wednesday that it will improve audio messaging in the next weeks, including the option to listen to a message while reading other chats and play messages at 1.5 or 2 times the normal speed.

The experience of recording messages is also getting better. WhatsApp now allows you to pause and continue recording, so you don’t have to leave long intervals of quiet while you think about what to say next, or redo a video if you need to conduct a quick discussion in real life. You’ll also be able to listen to a message before sending it to ensure that it wasn’t mistakenly cut off or included something you didn’t want to include.

Aesthetically, there is also a little improvement. Instead of only displaying a line to represent the progress of your voice message playback, WhatsApp will now display a waveform of the actual message. Furthermore, WhatsApp can remember where you were when you interrupted playback and allow you to resume playback from that moment, saving you from having to re-listen to a full message.

These enhancements are likely to be well-received; according to WhatsApp, users send an average of 7 billion voice chats per day. While some similar features have long been available in other apps (Telegram, for example, has allowed you to listen to messages outside of chats), it’s nice to see WhatsApp’s version getting some attention.