Sometime in the month of February, WhatsApp rolled out a global media player for the desktop and iOS versions of its app. This global media player gave users the opportunity to play audio files as well as voice notes from chats in the background. Having recorded success via these platforms, now the messaging giant is taking the same global media player for WhatsApp beta users on Android.
Recent reports suggest that the Android beta v2.22.7.11 version for WhatsApp was recently released via the Google Play Beta Program. With this beta version, the company has added the global media player for Android. The media feature will permit users to listen to voice notes and audio files from one conversation while accessing the chat view or other conversations.
The report has also mentioned that the global media player is only available for selected WhatsApp beta users on Android. Reasons for this is unknown but the company is expected to roll out for more beta testers to tag along within the next few days before releasing the feature to all users.
The media player is said to come along with a play/ pause button and the “X” option that lets you exist it. The media player is positioned to appear on the top of the chat list, much like it did on iOS. Here is a preview of the feature for Android below.
For those still wondering what the global media player on WhatsApp is, it’s that feature WhatsApp –owned company Meta has programmed into WhatsApp that allows users to play audio files generally. Be it a recording or a voice note users can play from chats even after leaving the relevant chat page you are paying from, it continues to in the app. Users can now easily scroll through other sections of WhatsApp while listening to the audio file. Without the global media player WhatsApp just introduced, if an audio file or a voice note is played from a chat window, it stops playing as soon as you leave the chat window to go to another chat. Now, it is worth mentioning that the media will stop playing if you exit the app entirely, though!
For now, since this feature is a part of WhatsApp’s beta version, there’s no word on when it will be reaching the public. However, considering how quickly the feature reached WhatsApp for desktop, iOS, and even Android beta, it’s expected that it will roll out pretty soon than we imagined.