The hot new thing in tech: speaking into your phone

Before last year, 28-year-old Meredith Giuliani thought voice notes were "kind of weird," and she mostly stuck to texting. But after the pandemic hit, audio messages became a daily routine for her and many of her friends.

"This is my way to debrief and tell everybody what's going on," she told CNN Business. "It's not like it used to be where I would wait until I was going to see my friends over the course of the next week for drinks or for brunch." For years, Apple and others have offered the option to record short messages and send them via text and chat apps. But the format has gained new appeal for many in the United States during the pandemic as we approach a year of limited opportunities to socialize with friends, family and coworkers.