What are Slack Huddles and how do they work?
(Pocket-lint) - Slack is introducing an audio-only feature designed to recreate the experience of someone or a group of people at work stopping by your desk to ask a question or solve an issue. Called Huddles, Slack said it's meant to "re-create the spontaneous and informal discussions you miss from the office". To help you hash out an idea, catch up with a colleague, debrief after a big meeting, or strike up a casual conversation with your co-workers, Slack has come up with Huddles, something it described as a "lightweight audio-first way to start live conversations". The idea is, with just one click in Slack, you can start a huddle in any channel or direct message. Everyone in that channel or DM will be able to join or leave the huddle as they please. Huddles give you a break from being on camera and take away the hassle of having to negotiate busy calenders. Slack Huddles can have up to 50 participants. Anyone in a conversation can join a huddle once it starts. You will receive an invitation to join if one starts in a DM. When you join a huddle from your desktop, you can share your screen and turn on live captions in English (more languages are in the works). Keep in mind, in Slack Connect channels and DMs, people from other organisations must have access to Huddles in order to start or join them. Open Slack on your desktop. Open a channel or DM. Click the headphones toggle in the bottom left corner of your sidebar. Once the huddle has started, you can: Click the microphone icon to mute your microphone  to mute your microphone Click the screen icon to share your screen  to share your screen Or click the add people icon to invite specific people to the huddle. To turn on live captioning: Click the name of the person actively talking in the bottom left corner of your screen. Click the three dots icon. Select Turn on captions. Open Slack on your mobile device. Open a channel or DM. Tap the antenna icon in the top right corner of the screen. Once the huddle has started, you can: Tap the microphone icon to mute your microphone  to mute your microphone Or tap the add people icon to invite specific people to the huddle  To leave a huddle click the headphones toggle at the bottom corner of your sidebar. From the channel or DM where the huddle is taking place, tap the antenna icon in the top right corner of the screen. Then, tap Leave. When you receive a huddle invitation, a notification sound will play and youll see the invitation in the bottom corner of your sidebar. Best VPN 2021: The 10 best VPN deals in the US and UK By Roland Moore-Colyer  2 July 2021  Click the Join button from the notification in your sidebar. Once you've joined, you can: Tap the microphone icon to mute your microphone. Tap the banner notification at the top of your screen. Or tap Join from the invitation. Once you've joined, you can: Tap the microphone icon to mute your microphone. When someone has started a huddle in a channel or DM you belong to, youll see a blue antenna icon next to the channel name in your sidebar. From a channel or DM, click the headphones toggle in the sidebar. Once you've joined, you can: Tap the microphone icon to mute your microphone. From the Home tab, tap the antenna icon next to a channel or DM. Tap Join. Starting 30 June 2021, Slack Huddles will roll out gradually to users on Slacks paid plans. By early August 2021, all customers will have access to Huddles. Check out Slack's FAQ hub, blog posts on Huddles, or our Slack tricks guide. Writing by Maggie Tillman.