TikTok to Roll Out Voice Notes, Image, and Video Sharing in Chats
Social medium platform, TikTok, is taking another step toward becoming more than just a short-form video platform by expanding its messaging capabilities.
The company told TechCrunch that users will soon be able to send voice notes, images, and videos in both direct messages and group chats, with the rollout expected over the next few weeks.
With voice messaging growing increasingly popular, TikTok will now allow users to send voice notes up to one minute long. For images and videos, users will be able to share up to nine files at a time from their phone’s camera app or library.
However, the company is implementing safety guardrails. Users won’t be able to send images or videos as the first message in a new chat.
TikTok’s existing messaging restrictions remain in place as well, only registered users aged 16 and above can access DMs, and for users between 16 and 18, images flagged for nudity are automatically blocked. Additionally, TikTok will now let users 18 and older toggle this nudity-detection feature on or off.
The update marks TikTok’s latest move to catch up with rivals like Messenger, WhatsApp, and Snapchat, which have long offered multimedia messaging features. Last year,
TikTok introduced group chats supporting up to 32 participants, and in April, it launched Footnotes, a feature similar to X’s (formerly Twitter) Community Notes, allowing users to add context to posts.
With these new tools, TikTok aims to strengthen its position as a full-fledged social platform, blending video discovery with richer, more interactive communication.
