Google Chat voice messages have finally arrived for free users

Key Takeaways

• Google Chat finally adds a voice messages feature for free users, catching up to other messaging apps.
• The feature is available on both the Android and iOS apps, as well as Google Chat in Gmail on the web.
• The app will generate an inline transcript of the voice message for both parties to read.

Google dropped the ball with Hangouts and has been playing catch-up in the field of chat apps ever since. Case in point: Google Chat is finally getting a long-overdue feature that every other chat app has had for years.

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Google is rolling out voice messages for Google Chat personal accounts (via 9to5Google). These voice messages are available for both Android and iOS versions of the app, as well as Chat integrated into Gmail. You'll see a microphone in the bottom right corner instead of a send icon, meaning the feature is available for you.

Here's how you can send a voice message in Google Chat

Source: 9to5Google

Sending a voice message in Google Chat works like most other chat apps. Simply tap the microphone icon and the app will immediately start recording. You will see a compact, pill-shaped interface with a waveform counter. There's an end button on the right to stop the recording when you're done, and a red trash icon on the left if you want to delete your recording.

You can listen to your recording before you send it by pressing the play button that will appear after you end your recording session. If you do send it, the waveform appears in the messages section, and a transcript will generate a few moments later. This feature is also available on the web, through Gmail, although it has a different interface.

Thanks for coming out, Google Chat

Google Chat is a decent chat app, but it is no Hangouts, or, dare we say it, Allo. The app's journey has been slow and many have questioned its purpose. The dedicated Chat app was launched in 2017 as Google was in the process of shutting down both Hangouts and Allo. But there had always been a Chat component baked into Gmail on the web, which means Google had three different messaging apps up and running at the same time.

Now Google seems to be focused on Google Messages and the RCS protocol, leading some to wonder if Google Chat was a superfluous service. Apparently, however, Google still has some love for it. It lacks some of the features most other chat apps have, such as location sharing and video messages.

But Google rolled out voice messages in Google Chat for Workspace customers last spring, so we knew the service was capable of it. This update is helpful for those who have stuck with Google Chat over the years, but for everyone else, it seems like too little, too late.