Facebook debuts 'Live Audio' on its platform, similar to podcast and radio

Android users will be able to continue listening to a Live Audio broadcast even if they leave Facebook app or lock their phones

After successfully rolling out the live video feature, Facebook has now introduced "Live Audio" option — like traditional radio or podcasting — in your News Feed where users will be able to broadcast audio directly to the social network.

"We know that sometimes publishers want to tell a story on Facebook with words and not video. Our new 'Live Audio' option makes it easy to go live with audio only when that's the broadcaster's preferred format," said Shirley Ip, Product Specialist, and Bhavana Radhakrishnan, Software Engineer at Facebook in a blog post on Tuesday.

"One thing we've heard is that partners want new formats for going live. We announced Live 360 last week, and today we're excited to announce another way to go live on Facebook," they added.

Facebook has witnessed some Pages find creative ways to go live and reach audiences with audio only by using the Facebook Live API or by adding a still image to accompany their audio broadcast.

"We also know that publishers sometimes go live from areas that lack strong network connectivity. Though we alert the broadcaster if their signal is low, Live Audio presents another option for connecting with audiences in real time from low-connectivity areas," the post read.

Just as with a live video on Facebook, listeners can discover live audio content in News Feed, ask questions and leave reactions in real time during the broadcast and easily share with their friends.

People using Android devices will be able to continue listening to a Live Audio broadcast even if they leave the Facebook app or lock their phones while iOS listeners will be able to continue listening as they browse other parts of Facebook.

Over the next few weeks, Facebook will test "Live Audio" with several partners, including BBC World Service, LBC, Harper Collins, and authors Adam Grant and Brit Bennett.

"Early next year, we plan to make this new format more broadly available to publishers and people," the blog post read.