Facebook has officially launched it’s Live Audio Rooms and Podcasts on iOS, but the service is only limited in for the US audience for now. In the beginning, the service is restricted to public figures and select Facebook Groups, and the debut of an initial set of U.S. podcast partners.
As per the reports, Live Audio Rooms, which have been in talk since April, will become available to any verified public figure or creator in the U.S. who’s in good standing with Facebook; who is using either a profile or the new Facebook Pages experience on iOS. As reported by Tech Crunch, for Facebook Groups, the feature is launching with “dozens of groups.”
Starting today, we’re rolling out Live Audio Rooms and podcasts on Facebook. Read all about it here: https://t.co/U8CogK8ffe https://t.co/EYbH88lCyf
— Facebook App (@facebookapp) June 21, 2021
Though the service is available for iOS, but people can join from both iOS and Android. Besides, the speaker can invite and speak with up to 50 people at once. On the other hand, there is no cap on the number of listeners.
The features of the new audio products include other nifty features such as notifications when a friends or followers join a room, live captions, “raise a hand” button to request to join the conversation. Other than that, reactions will also be available in order to interact throughout the chat.
Most importantly, admins can control who’s allowed to create a room within a group. The service also features Public group chats and private group chats. However, the former one will be accessible both in and outside the group, and the latter will be restricted to the group members.
Moreover, the hosts of the audio rooms can also select and support a nonprofit or fundraiser, and a donation button will show up on the chat.
Now, about the Facebook Podcast, it has been confirmed by the company to various news outlet. The service is going to be a planned podcast support with a few selected creators including-
- Joe Budden of The Joe Budden Podcast;
- “Jess Hilarious” of Carefully Reckless from The Black Effect Podcast Network and iHeartRadio;
- Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin, and Jac Vanek of The LadyGang;
- Nicaila Matthews Okome of Side Hustle Pro.
As per the reports, Facebook will open up to other podcasters this summer. People can now use Facebook to listen to podcasts by the abovementioned stars.
According to the Facebook team, they are planning to roll out automatic captioning later this summer. Clips feature is also in the plan, where listeners can create and share their favorite clips.