But video was always going to be part of Huddles.
It sounds like a bit of a departure, adding more complexity and fidelity to a thing that was deliberately low-stress. “There are plenty of other tools that are video-first,” she says, “so why this in Slack? It’s because it’s where you are already working.” Which is what some people want! Slack has always tried to avoid being prescriptive about how people use the app, and Yehoshua says lots of users weren’t using huddles because they wanted video.
Hit another button, and the huddle gets its own window, at which point it feels an awful lot like a Zoom meeting. Every huddle still starts as an audio chat - “our goal was to reduce social pressure to turn on your video,” Yehoshua says - but you can click a button and turn on a tiny video chat in the sidebar of your Slack app. Now, though, huddles can be much more than that. Every huddle now comes with a chat, which is saved even after the huddle ends. The company is proud that the average huddle is only 10 minutes long, a nice respite from a constant drumbeat of 30-minute Zoom meetings. I can hang out in the huddle, listen to the nice background jazz music, and wait until you’re free.” Huddles are often used as co-working tools, Yehoshua says, so teams can quickly get something done without the mental overhead of turning on cameras and having an official meeting. “It’s not like your phone is ringing and you have to pick it up. “What’s nice about Huddles is it’s not intrusive,” says Tamar Yehoshua, Slack’s head of product.
It borrowed a lot from Discord’s audio chat features and has worked really well. They were audio-only you couldn’t schedule one you could start one in any channel or direct message. The company always imagined the feature, which you can use to have a quick audio call inside Slack, as more akin to walking over to someone’s desk rather than sending them a calendar invite. Huddles originally launched a year ago, and they’ve worked for Slack precisely because they don’t feel like meetings. With Huddles, Slack’s vision is simple: people need more, richer ways to chat, but they don’t need more meetings. The company announced the updates at its Frontiers conference, which for Slack is both a chance to unveil new products and to share its thoughts about the future of work. What if you’re in a Huddle on your computer and you want to switch over to your phone? Tap the antenna icon-which will be blue to signify a Huddle is happening-in the mobile app.Slack is upgrading its Huddles feature with video chat, multi-user screen sharing, and a per-huddle chat thread. To leave the Huddle, simply tap the “Leave” button. There are no live captions or screen-sharing features. There’s not much else you can do with mobile Huddles. You’ll see a button to “Mute/Unmute” your mic and to “Invite” people. The Huddle window will open and you’ll be muted by default when no one else has joined. If a Huddle is currently happening, the icon will be highlighted in blue. Navigate to the channel or person with who you want to Huddle and tap the antenna icon in the top right.
To use Huddles on mobile, first open Slack on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.
RELATED: How to Turn on Two-Factor Authentication in Slack Slack Huddles on Mobile To leave the Huddle, simply click the headphone icon again. Click the three-dot menu icon below the Huddle area and select “Share Screen.” You’ll be able to choose your whole screen or specific windows. The other thing you can do with Huddles on the desktop is share your screen.