What is locked recording on WhatsApp and how to get and use it

It’s been a while since WhatsApp started supporting audio messaging and so far, the feature hasn’t been at the forefront of the company’s revamps – until recently.

In early January, WhatsApp was reported to be making several tweaks to the audio feature. First was the idea of instant switching between audio and video calls and then later, reports of a feature that lets users listen to recorded audio messages before sending them was talked up.

A month ago, fresh details were outed by the notorious WABetaInfo suggesting that WhatsApp was working on another feature to improve audio messaging. It was reported that the feature will improve the audio recording experience, where users will be able to lock a recording.

How to lock recording on WhatsApp

If you have tried sending an audio message on WhatsApp, you might have experienced the painful process of having to tap and hold the microphone button while speaking your message. If anything comes up and you happen to release the button before you are done with recording the message, it will be sent to the intended recipient up to the point you let go of the button.

To avoid this, the new WhatsApp feature now lets you lock a recording. To do this, simply tap and hold the microphone button and after a second or two, you’ll notice a locked microphone icon pop up, where sliding up your finger will lock the recording. This way, you can let go of the microphone button and keep on speaking your message as you do other stuff. When done, simply tap on the send button.

When in lock recording mode, you’ll also see an option to cancel the ongoing recording alongside the time count, but be warned that leaving the open window will immediately discard the audio message being recorded. In short, you cannot browse other sections of WhatsApp despite the new feature having freed up your hand during audio recording.

This feature is currently available for those using WhatsApp beta 2.18.102, but it should come to the stable version sooner or later. Do let us know if it’s already active on your end.