Google Chat is the company’s not-so-popular chat app, coming in as the officialsubstitute for Google Hangoutsin the Workspace suite. It is perfectly suited for messaging your Gmail contacts informally, or discussing things in an SMS-like format instead of several emails sent back and forth. However, Chat is rudimentary and lacking several modern-day amenities we may take for granted inour favorite messaging apps. Support for voice notes is one such feature, and Google just announced it is finally headed for release in the Chat app.
How to use Google Chat
Collaborate and chat with this lightweight messaging app
Google Chat has all the features to get your message across, but it may not be the most convenient. Google has mercifully given users the ability to send text, emoji, images, GIFs, and files, but you cannot send several types of data, such as location pins and voice notes. Google Chat is well behind the likes of Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord, and Slack in this regard, despite its messaging focus. Today, the companyannounced voice message supportis finally arriving on Chat — a whole 11 years after WhatsApp got the feature.
Support is coming, but its disappointingly limited
In a recent Workspace Updates blog post, Google shared that voice message support will roll out in a slow trickle to users in the coming month. Specifically, the rollout begins today for the Rapid Release domains and should finish by April 30 for other eligible users. For now, the feature is only headed for the Chat app on Android, although the company says web support is coming soon.
Once available, you’ll see a new mic icon showing up beside the image attachment shortcut in the Chat app. You can tap once to start recording, and notice the message composition text field makes way for a pill-shaped waveform indicator with a timer, flanked by aDeletebutton on the left andStopbutton on the right. When you tap the latter after a recording, you can tap it again to send the recorded voice note, or play it back before you send it.
Since this is a server-side feature addition on the mobile app, it will be switched on by default and any voice messages you send will be treated as attachments. This means workspace administrators can disable this at a domain level and users can download voice messages from Google Takeout just like attachments.
Interestingly, Google allows you to send voice notes in chats with individuals, groups, and even Spaces, complete with support for emoji reactions, quoted replies, and threaded replies. However, only a few Enterprise-tier account types are entitled to this feature, because Google doesn’t think us mediocre Gmail-using individual account-holding plebs are worthy of it, at least not yet.
Google Workspace: Everything you need to know about Google’s collaborative workplace platform
Google Workspace is essential for WFH and hybrid work
If you want voice notes and a bunch of other handy features and automations, a platform like Slack or Discord is the way to go. Google Chat is many years late to the party, and still learning the ropes. Hopefully, this changes soon with a major update.
