The voice notes are a function of WhatsApp which has been present in the application for more than a decade, since 2013. It is also one of those that generates the most passions, for and againstfor easily understandable reasons. All the convenience of recording what you want to say instead of writing it out means that the recipient has to listen to it instead of reading it, a much quicker action. The solution to this situation is Automatic transcription of voice notes. A feature that has been in development for some time now and that, after landing in the beta of WhatsApp For Android, it seems much closer.
Voice transcription is not new to the platform, but it is taking longer to develop than you might initially expect. It arrived in WhatsApp beta in iOS in May 2023, from where it has not moved despite the excellent impression that its operation has caused. Last March, TheSPAndroid found text strings which referred to the function when decompiling the beta for Android 2.24.7.7. Now it has been WABetainfo who has reported that with version 2.24.15.5 the transcription of voice notes is being rolled out to a limited number of beta users in some countries and in the coming weeks it will reach more.
đź“ť WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.15.5: what’s new?
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature to transcribe voice messages, and it’s available to some beta testers!https://t.co/eXdAQkrPJRpic.twitter.com/eMqsdqG1xA
— WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) July 9, 2024
The operation is very simple. Once the option is enabled in the application settings, Each voice note will be accompanied by its transcription which will be shown below.. When activated, WhatsApp will require the download of a language pack to perform the transcription. Currently offers English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian and HindiIt is to be hoped that more languages ​​will join these five in the future.
Downloading the packages is necessary because The transcription process is done on the user’s device and not in the cloudwhich contributes to the privacy of conversations.
Having this feature in the app brings several significant advantages. Beyond the time savingespecially with long voice notes, is a help for people with hearing problems and also when you are in a noisy environment and difficulties in hearing the message clearly. It also makes it easier to retrieve the content of those messages with a quick reading instead of having to play it again.