Facebook Messenger 2.1 now lets you send voice messages to friends. If you live in Canada, the company is also testing free VoIP calls which presumably, if the tests go well, will spread to other countries.
(Note: Don’t judge, it’s just fun to mess with my friend John using ‘brah’)
To send a voice message in Facebook Messenger, create a new single or group chat, then hit the X button next to the text box. A new “Record Voice” option joins the existing photo options.
When the voice controls appear, you have to tap and hold on the button while you want to talk—why Facebook didn’t go with a simple and standard “tap to start recording, tap to finish, play to preview before you send it” interface is beyond me. As soon as you let go of the button, Facebook Messenger sends your message with no ability to preview or do it over.
However, you can delete a voice message any time after you’ve sent it by long pressing on it in the conversation and tapping delete in the popover.