WhatsApp voice message transcription comes to Android a year after its debut on iOS

Listening to voice messages in a noisy environment can sometimes be a problem, especially if you receive most of your messages in voice format. Moreover, people with hearing impairments have a lot of difficulty listening to voice messages, which can negatively affect their experience using a messaging app. To address this problem, WhatsApp introduced voice message transcription for iOS last year, and now the feature is available on Android as well.

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Voice transcription allows users to read their received voice messages instead of listening to them. This feature, which WhatsApp first made available for iOS in May last year, was spotted for Android in March this year by the hardworking folks at WABetaInfo. At the time, WhatsApp was working on a feature to transcribe voice notes.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has started rolling out the message transcription feature to a small group of beta testers in certain regions. The feature is included in the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.15.5, which is now available for download from the Google Play Store. If you are a member of the WhatsApp beta program, you can check the Play Store for any updates to the app.

WhatsApp will soon offer voice message transcription for Android

As shown in the screenshot below, WhatsApp message transcription is now available in English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian and Hindi, the most used languages ​​in the WhatsApp community. The app may add support for more languages ​​in the future.

Source: WABetaInfo

After you select a language for your transcript, WhatsApp downloads an additional data package to protect your privacy. All transcripts are generated on your device, so you are in control and they are protected from prying eyes. You can change your preferred language at any time in the settings. WhatsApp also ensures that all voice messages are end-to-end encrypted, giving you even more control over your privacy.

Transcribing voice messages not only makes conversations more convenient, it can also provide users with a quick reference for future reference. Users can quickly search for the voice memo later and check the context of a voice message without having to replay the audio file.