Reddit expands live audio chat to desktop, rolls out new features

The company said it is rolling out several new features for Reddit Talk, including a recording function so community members can listen to Reddit Talks after they have happened.  

It is also bringing the Reddit Talk experience to web users, the ability to interact with text and emojis during Talks, and a live bar experiment on the top of the feed that shows when live Reddit Talks are happening.  

"If Redditors can't make it to a live Talk, we want to make it easy to listen to past Talks on their own time," the company said in a blogpost on Wednesday.  

"Starting today, when a Redditor visits a Reddit Talk post from a past live session, they will be able to listen to a recording of the conversation," it added.  

The new feature includes a playback bar that enables Redditors to skip to any timestamp, pause or unpause, and fast-forward or rewind 10 seconds at a time.  

The company said it is also bringing Reddit Talk features previously reserved for a native app to web users.  Now, anyone can listen to Talks and raise their hands to speak and moderators can mute speakers and remove them from the stage when using Reddit.com. 

Creating talks on the desktop is coming later this month.  Redditors can now use text and emojis to actively participate in a Talk. Previously, Redditors who were listening to a Talk were able to raise their hand to join the stage, but couldn't comment in real-time.  

Enabling comments and emojis make Talks easier to engage with, even without speaking, the company said.  Reddit is also testing a live bar at the top of home feeds that highlights what Reddit Talks are happening, making it easier for Redditors to discover Reddit Talks in the communities they love.