If there is a divisive function between users of WhatsAppthis is the one of the voice notes. They have been with us for a long time, since 2013, but the convenience of speaking instead of typing, on the one hand, translates in the obligation of having to listen instead of reading, something that is much faster. There are alternatives, of course. Chatbots like LuzIA that perform this task or third-party applications, but now WhatsApp is going to to integrate natively Audio transcription in the Android version.
The functionality that will make peace between devotees and haters of voice notes arrived in the beta version of WhatsApp for iOS a year ago, although it had been in preparation since 2021. TheSPAndroid media has decompiled version 2.24.7.7 of the WhatsApp beta for Android and has found text strings that refer to the voice memo transcriptionwhich indicates that the long-awaited feature will arrive soon.
Specifically, phrases such as 'Transcribe', 'To activate transcriptions, 150 MB of new application data will be downloaded', 'WhatsApp uses your device's voice recognition to provide end-to-end encrypted transcripts' have been found in the application. extreme. Learn more', 'Read before listening with transcriptions' or 'Do you want to transcribe this message? Activate transcripts', among other references.
The code found indicates that the function will not be enabled by default, but the user will have to do it manually. Will require downloading 150 MB data with language packs necessary for transcription and will be a task that the device will perform locallyusing the system speech recognition of the phone that allows, for example, to dictate messages on WhatsApp while maintaining end-to-end encryption.
Taking as a reference the transcription of WhatsApp voice notes on iOS, the new function should appear within the section Chats of the Settings of the application. Once activated, each voice memo lasting less than two minutes It will appear automatically transcribed under the received audio. For longer voice memos, you will need to click on the option Transcribe for the app to perform the transcription.
It is unknown when this function will arrive, as other messaging apps such as Telegram either iMessage, to the final version of WhatsApp. But the fact that it has been in the iOS beta for a year and is now appearing in the Android beta suggests that sooner rather than later we will have it among us.