X brings back voice notes to its standalone chat app

X has officially brought back Voice Notes to its X Chat service, allowing users to send audio messages within private one-on-one and group chats. The social network announced late on Wednesday that support for Voice Notes is now available within its private messaging service. While posting Voice Notes publicly on X may no longer be possible, users can now share audio messages within X’s direct messaging system, X Chat, once again. The new addition could make X Chat more competitive with other messaging apps, where recording audio voice notes has long been a standard option.

The introduction of the new app reflects a strategy change for the social network. Owner Elon Musk once said X would become an all-in-one super app—an all-in-one application. Now, the company is looking to make pieces of its app available as their own experiences. For instance, X Money, X’s payments service, is also being tested as a separate app. This update reflects a broader strategy shift for the company, which is increasingly moving to make pieces of its app available as standalone experiences.

The feature is currently available on iOS, following X’s recent beta tests of an X Chat app on the platform. While the company claims that chats are end-to-end encrypted, security experts have warned that the service is less secure than other encrypted messaging apps, like Signal. Voice Notes have been on X Chat’s roadmap for some time despite their temporary removal. When X first introduced its new chat platform in November, it said the audio feature would be returning soon.

Why it matters

The reintroduction of Voice Notes signals X’s shift toward unbundling its “everything app” vision, transforming core features into independent, standalone products.