WhatsApp announced that it will begin providing voice message transcripts.
The messaging giant, owned by Meta, has officially revealed the availability of voice message transcription, a service that turns audio communications into text.
This means that even if you’re commuting, multitasking, or just not in the mood to play, this update will keep you updated.
The Meta-owned firm claimed that the new function will come in handy whether you’re on the go or in a noisy environment where you can’t hear a voice message.
Voice message transcripts are exactly that. WhatsApp says voice communications can be transcribed into text “to help you keep up with conversations no matter what you’re doing”. The transcripts are generated on your smartphone, so no one, including WhatsApp, can hear or read your private communications.
Here’s how it will work on WhatsApp: if you receive a voice message, long-press it and select “transcribe” to see it in text format.
WhatsApp stated that transcribed messages are still safeguarded by the app’s end-to-end encryption, and the transcription is done directly on your device’s privacy.
“To get started, go to Settings > Chats > Voice message transcripts to easily turn transcriptions on or off and select your transcript language.
“You can transcribe a voice message by long pressing on the message and tapping on ‘transcribe’. We’re excited to build on this experience and make it even better and more seamless,” WhatsApp explained in a blog post.
A similar feature had been announced for Apple’s Message app, a major WhatsApp competitor, with the release of iOS 17.
Voice message transcripts will be available globally in select languages within the next few weeks, according to the business.
The languages supported by iOS vary depending on the operating system.
Supported languages for iOS 16+ include English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Chinese, and Arabic. Languages supported by iOS 17+ include Danish, Finnish, Malay, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Hebrew, and Thai.
If you have an Android, you can get transcripts in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian.
We earlier reported that WhatsApp announced a new feature aimed at improving how users manage contacts across devices.
