Audio

This page describes voice messages and basic audio messages on the WhatsApp Business Platform.

On March 17th, 2026, voice messages started receiving a “played” status webhook the first time a WhatsApp user plays a voice message shared by the business.

Voice Messages

A voice message, also referred to as a voice note or audio message, is a recording of spoken audio that may include background sounds such as music or ambient noise.

Voice messages provide enhanced playback features compared to standard audio messages, including automatic download behavior, display of the business profile image, and a dedicated voice playback icon. These features are not available for basic audio messages.

• Voice messages require .ogg files encoded with the OPUS codec. If you send a different file type or a file encoded with a different codec, voice message transcription will fail.

• The play icon will only appear if the file is 512KB or smaller, otherwise it will be replaced with a download icon (a downward facing arrow).

• The message displays your business’s profile image with a microphone icon.

• The text transcription appears if the user has enabled Automatic voice message transcripts⁠. If the user has set this to Manual, the text “Transcribe” will appear instead, which will display the transcribed text once tapped. If the user has set voice message transcripts to Never, no text will appear.

Basic audio messages

Basic audio messages display a download icon together with a music icon. When the recipient selects the play icon, the audio file is first downloaded to the device, after which the WhatsApp client loads and plays the audio.

• The download icon is automatically replaced with a play icon if the recipient has enabled automatic media download and the required conditions are met, for example when connected to Wi-Fi.

• If a .ogg file encoded with the OPUS codec is sent as a basic audio message, the music icon is replaced with a microphone icon. Additionally, if voice message transcription is enabled on the recipient’s device, either a text transcription or a Transcribe option is displayed alongside the message, depending on the transcription setting.

Audio Message Request

POST https://waba-v2.360dialog.io/messages

Use the messages endpoint to send a voice or basic audio message to a WhatsApp user.

Headers

Name	Value
Content-Type	application/json
Authorization	D360-API-KEY

Body Example

{
  "messaging_product": "whatsapp",
  "recipient_type": "individual",
  "to": "<WHATSAPP_USER_PHONE_NUMBER>",
  "type": "audio",
  "audio": {
    "id": "<MEDIA_ID>", <!-- Only if using uploaded media -->
    "link": "<MEDIA_URL>", <!-- Only if using hosted media (not recommended) -->
    "voice": <IS_VOICE?> <!-- Only include if sending voice message -->
  }
}

Response

200

{
  "contacts": [
    {
      "input": "text",
      "wa_id": "text"
    }
  ],
  "messages": [
    {
      "id": "text",
      "message_status": "accepted"
    }
  ],
  "messaging_product": "text"
}

400

Supported Audio Formats

Audio Type	Extension	MIME Type	Max Size
AAC	.aac	audio/aac	16 MB
AAC	.aac	audio/amr	16 MB
MP3	.mp3	audio/mpeg	16 MB
MP4 Audio	.m4a	audio/mp4	16 MB
OGG Audio	.ogg	audio/ogg (OPUS codecs only; base audio/ogg not supported; mono input only)	16 MB

The most common errors associated with audio files are mismatched MIME types, where the MIME type does not match the file type indicated by the file name, and invalid encoding for Ogg files, which require the OPUS codec. If an error occurs when sending a media file, verify that the audio file’s MIME type matches its extension and that the format is supported. For Ogg files, ensure the audio is encoded using the OPUS codec.