If you’ve ever received a very long voicemail on WhatsApp that you wish could go a little faster, WhatsApp has apparently been listening to you.
The app reportedly tests different playback speeds on iOS and Android WABetaInfo. The outlet has the feature in a new update in Apple’s TestFlight beta program and the Google Play beta app the last few days. Per WABetaInfo, there are three playback speeds available on iOS and Android: 1.0x, 1.5x and 2.0x. The feature is currently being developed and is not available to the general public.
The Android version report says users can change the spelling speed of a voicemail by tapping the speed tag. Below you can see screenshots of what the alleged function looks like there.
As with other developments, it is not clear that it will ever make it into the mainstream. There is no set release date.
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I do not know about all of you, but I have a hard enough time listening to long voicemails from my friends. Some friends who like voicemails will regularly send me messages that are four, five and even 15 minutes long. By the time I finish listening, it’s sometimes hard to remember the topics they mentioned. FYI, a good trick is to respond via SMS in WhatsApp while listening so that you do not forget all the details in the voicemail.
That does not mean that I judge people who send long voicemails. I can not, because I do too. Actually, I sometimes joke with my best friends (who are the only ones on this earth who are willing to listen to a 12-minute voicemail from me) that I am not sending them voicemails, but I am sending them podcasts. For those who will necessarily ask why I am not just calling my friends, this is a time zone issue.
What do I think then when I see WhatsApp’s idea for new playback speeds? I mean, I’m not going to say it’s a bad idea. There will surely be people who find it useful if it is ever released. But if I get lost while listening to normal speech messages at normal playback speed, I can not even imagine what it would be like if I increased the speed. And like, well, I do not know if I would laugh or be annoyed if my friends would increase the playback speed on my messages (though I would not blame it, my messages are too long).
Alas, for each their own playback speed.