Goal often introduces small improvements in WhatsApp and, less frequently, major changes to the user experience. A month ago, the company announced the global deployment of one of those that fall into the second category and that will surely be very welcomed by many users, automatic transcription of voice noteswhich has already been completed.
Yes, it is no longer necessary to listen to a voice note if you do not want to spend the necessary time on it, but WhatsApp delivers its content to you in text. For many users, who send and receive 7 billion voice messages every day on the platform, this is a much faster and more efficient way to know the content of this type of messages.
Automatic transcription of voice notes is disabled by default
Now, it is likely that for many this option has gone unnoticed. It is disabled by default and the app does not inform the user of this news. It is necessary to go to the WhatsApp settings to activate it and, if you are one of those who are not very fond of receiving audios, it will stop being a nuisance.
In addition to activating the function, it is necessary download language pack corresponding to the language in which you receive the messages. This is because the transcription runs locally on your device, not in the cloudallowing Meta to ensure that messages remain protected by the end to end encryption.
The languages available in Android They are English, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. In iOSTo the above are added French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Chinese, Arabic, Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Malay, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish and Thai. Please note that the transcription is only applicable to the new voice notes you receive after activating itnot the ones you have previously saved.
How to activate the transcription of voice notes in WhatsApp
To activate the transcription, once WhatsApp has been updated, you must follow these steps:
- On WhatsApp, open Settings (Android) / Configuration (iOS).
- Tap on Chats.
- Active Voicemail transcripts.
- Select your transcription language. Please note that the transcription feature works with only one language, so if you receive voice memos in several, you can only apply it to one.
- Tap on the button Set up nownext to which the download size is indicated, just over 100 MB, to obtain the language pack.
How to transcribe a voice message on WhatsApp
Once transcripts are activated, you must follow these steps:
- Press and hold a voice message, then tap Transcribe.
- Tap the icon down arrow in the voice message to show more of the transcript.