If you are one of those who hate receiving voice notes instead of text messages on WhatsAppyou are in luck. After three years of development and more than one being seen in the beta versions of the application, first on iOS and since this year on Android, Meta launches transcription of voice notes for all mobile app users.
WhatsApp has announced that the new feature will roll out globally, for both iOS and Android, ‘in the coming weeks’. The voice notes, which have been in the app since 2013are widely used, but also They are uncomfortable for users for various reasons. Either because reading a message is much faster than listening to it or because you find yourself in situations where there is too much ambient noise or you don’t want the people around you to be able to hear you. They love each other or hate each other, but what is clear is that, with 7 billion voice messages circulating on the platform every daymany users will be in the first group.
Those of the second will be able to have a much kinder relationship with voice notes thanks to the new feature. Meta highlights that The processing necessary to transcribe the audio is carried out on the device itself. of the user and that voice messages remain protected by the end to end encryption. ‘No one, not even WhatsApp, can listen to your voice messages nor see the content of the transcripts‘, explains the WhatsApp support page.
It must be taken into account that the transcription is only available to the receiver of the voice memo, not the senderand that the available languages vary greatly depending on the platform. In Androidthe transcription of voice messages will be available in English, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
In iOSon iPhones with iOS 16In addition to those already mentioned, it can be transcribed in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Chinese and Arabic. With iOS 17 Danish, Finnish, Hebrew, Malay, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish and Thai are added. With older versions of Apple’s operating system, transcription will not be available. On Android there is no limit in this regard.
The increased number of languages on iOS probably has to do with a recommendation to use transcriptions is to have the Siri assistant activated. If not, it will be necessary to download the corresponding language pack when activating the option. In the case of Android, there is no mention of any wizard to use the function.
How to activate the transcription of voice notes in WhatsApp
Meta has noted that the feature, once deployed, will be disabled by default and it will be the user who must modify the setting. To activate transcription, you must follow these steps:
- In WhatsAppopen Settings (Android) / Configuration (iOS).
- Tap on Chats.
- Active Voicemail transcripts.
- Select your Transcription language.
How to transcribe a voice message on WhatsApp
Once transcripts are activated, you must follow these steps:
- keep pressed a voice message, then tap Transcribe.
- Touch the down arrow icon in the voice message to show more of the transcript.