With that in mind, perhaps you should be sending more of these personalized, informal audio snippets that can say just about anything (whether you’re arranging a party or despairing about a sports game, a voice message works). Many messaging apps now support voice recordings as standard, and there are workarounds for the rest. In that case, you’ll need to start in a voice recording app. On an iPhone, the native Voice Memos app will do just fine: Record your piece, tap the three dots next to it, and choose Share. You’ll see a list of apps installed on your device, and you can pick the relevant messaging app (or something else, like an email client) to send the file to a contact. On Android, the apps available will depend on your phone. Google Pixel handsets have a Recorder app you can use—tap a recording, then the three dots next to it, and Share to pick an app. Samsung phones have something similar called the Samsung Voice Recorder: Press and hold on any clip in the app and the Share button will appear below. Finally, you might come across apps that simply can’t send voice files across their direct messaging platform—Twitter is one example. Instead, you’ll need to upload your voice clip to the cloud, get a link to the clip that can be accessed on the web, and then share that link inside your messaging app of choice. It’s a bit convoluted, but it works. The process is fairly straightforward in most cloud storage apps, and you should be able to find the feature pretty easily. In the Dropbox app on your phone, for example, tap the three dots next to any file and choose Copy link—you can then paste that link into a chat conversation, and it will lead anyone who follows it to the recording you’ve made.
Send your voice over Apple’s Messages
Load up the chat where you want to send the voice message on your iPhone, and you’ll see the voice chat icon just to the right of the text input box (it looks like a sound wave). Press and hold this icon to record your clip, then lift your finger when you’re done. You can then tap the play button to hear the audio, the up arrow to send it, or the X (on the left) to cancel it.
Send audio clips on Signal
Signal follows the lead of WhatsApp and Telegram pretty much pixel by pixel. Press and hold the microphone icon by the text input box to record a clip, then release your finger to send it. To review the clip before it goes, and cancel it if necessary, you’ll need to slide your finger up to the padlock symbol while it’s pressed down during the recording process.
How to send voice messages on Instagram
Open a conversation in Instagram and you’ll see a microphone button down by the text input box. Press and hold on this to record your message, then let go to send it (or swipe left to cancel). If you press and hold and drag up to the padlock icon, you can release your finger and keep recording—then tap the arrow icon to send the message or the trash can icon to cancel it.
