[HN Gopher] Slack launches Huddles, Discord-like audio calls you...
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       Slack launches Huddles, Discord-like audio calls you can hop in and
       out of
        
       Author : Garbage
       Score  : 59 points
       Date   : 2021-06-30 16:35 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.theverge.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.theverge.com)
        
       | dcroley wrote:
       | So basically, it's just a slack call with the video off?
        
         | monkey_monkey wrote:
         | I don't think so, it's more like a Discord Voice Channel - ie
         | it's always on, and you can enter or leave whenever without
         | needing to start up or tear down a call or invite anyone
        
           | bluefirebrand wrote:
           | You can also be in one alone to signal "I am willing to have
           | a conversation right now" and people who want that too can
           | just join at will.
        
         | yjftsjthsd-h wrote:
         | Tech-wise, maybe, culturally it makes a difference.
        
       | thdxr wrote:
       | I'm sure to a lot of people this may not seem like a big deal.
       | However I think this makes a huge difference in lowering the
       | friction to quickly hop in/out of audio. It seems minor but is
       | pretty transformational in how remote communication happens
        
       | tannedNerd wrote:
       | I wish discord would support fast account user switching. I
       | vastly prefer it to slack but I also enjoy having good workplace
       | hygiene so having my gaming friends pop up during my work hours
       | is less than ideal.
        
         | aclelland wrote:
         | I use Discord in different browsers to keep separate accounts
         | active at the same time. It works pretty well in Firefox and
         | Edge. Running in the browser also means discord can't snoop on
         | what apps you have installed or what games you're running and
         | report them back to home base which is another plus.
        
           | fish45 wrote:
           | you can also use Firefox containers to keep it all within
           | Firefox
        
           | tannedNerd wrote:
           | I'll have to give this a try. I already use it in a browser
           | since for some silly reason the discord Mac app blocks
           | virtual cameras like GoPro or manycam.
        
         | joshstrange wrote:
         | Agreed, I don't love the fact that my username is tied to all
         | my discord activity. For my friend-based Discord's that's fine
         | but for larger communities or ones that I'd prefer to just be
         | anonymous it's annoying that I either have to tie it all
         | together or I have to log out/in constantly.
        
           | monkey_monkey wrote:
           | I use the Discord PTB (public test build) and the stable
           | client to separate out personal and professional.
           | 
           | It's less than ideal though, it would be so much better if
           | Discord supported multiple accounts
        
         | CodesInChaos wrote:
         | Not supporting multiple identities is discords biggest feature
         | gap IMO.
         | 
         | On windows you can use sandboxie to start multiple instances in
         | parallel using different credentials, but it's somewhat
         | annoying to use and breaks occasionally.
        
       | sdflhasjd wrote:
       | I honestly can't believe it's taken them so long. It's a killer
       | feature of discord, and the Slack audio calling at the moment
       | still feels clunky and unreliable.
       | 
       | Every big Slack update, I've been disappointed that the calling
       | hasn't been overhauled.
       | 
       | The only other thing I want from Slack is to be able to invite
       | guests (proper guests, not guest accounts) into calls/meetings.
       | Our customers use Teams, and it's a nice experience being able to
       | join a meeting without an account or downloading some meeting
       | app. It's the only reason why we still use Zoom.
        
         | pxue wrote:
         | Agreed.
         | 
         | Imho kinda crazy the zoom slack integration works better than
         | slacks own native calling function.
        
       | toqueteos wrote:
       | Isn't this how Ventrilo, Mumble and TeamSpeak have worked since
       | decades ago?
        
         | willcipriano wrote:
         | Isn't Ventrilo, Mumble and TeamSpeak just a digital version of
         | a party line[0]?
         | 
         | [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony)
        
       | JaggedJax wrote:
       | I really like this idea and think it would be very useful for our
       | team. I do worry how well it will work because I've never used a
       | less reliable voice chat in my life than Slack calls. My entire
       | team has problems with it about half the time and it has never
       | gotten better.
        
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       (page generated 2021-06-30 23:03 UTC)