Twitter is today unveiling out the ability to record voice snippets and attach them to your tweets. Audio tweets are similar to sending a WhatsApp voice note to a friend. This new feature is currently only available first on iOS for “a limited group of people,” according to the company.
“Sometimes 280 characters aren’t enough and some conversational nuances are lost in translation. So starting today, we’re testing a new feature that will add a more human touch to the way we use Twitter — your very own voice,” Twitter’s Maya Patterson and Rémy Bourgoin wrote in a blog post.
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For the few who have access to audio tweets, you’ll see a new waveform icon beside the camera icon when composing a tweet. Tap that, and a red record button appears at the bottom of the screen, which you can tap to start recording your message.
“Each audio tweet captures up to 140 seconds of a voice message. Have more to say? Keep talking. Once you reach the time limit for a tweet, a new voice tweet starts automatically to create a thread,” Twitter said.
You can add an Audio tweet to original tweets, according to the company’s help page, which means you can’t include them your replies or retweets with a comment. Your profile picture will appear when you record a voice clip that will always be attached to that audio tweet. “Your current profile photo will be added as a static image on your audio attachment and will not refresh if you update your profile photo,” Twitter says.
To listen to an audio tweet, all you need to do is to hit the play button. On iOS, Twitter says a dock will appear near the bottom of the app so you can listen to audio tweets and continue scrolling through your timeline. To keep up the multi-tasking spirit, the tweet will keep playing in the background even if you switch to another app.
