WhatsApp gets a handy transcription option for voice messages

How many times have you received a voice message on WhatsApp that you couldn’t listen to? Maybe you’re in a quiet place where listening to a message would be inappropriate, or in a noisy place where it’s impossible to hear a message with your heart. Thanks to a new feature that’s being introduced, this is no longer a problem.

Beta testers of the Android version of WhatsApp discover a new option for transcribing voice messages. This feature works with both incoming and outgoing messages and serves several functions. Not only does it allow you to know the content of a message that you cannot listen to immediately, but it is also extremely useful from an accessibility point of view.

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We’ve known for some time that Meta has been working on voicemail transcription, but its appearance in the latest beta version of the app is the first time we’ve seen it in action.

If you’re enrolled in the WhatsApp beta program, you’ll need to update to WhatsApp Beta for Android 2.24.15.5. However, keep in mind that this feature is being tested with select users, so even if you have the correct version of the app installed, it’s possible you won’t have access to it. However, it shouldn’t be long before the transcription feature is available to everyone.

For privacy reasons, all transcriptions are performed on the device. This requires the installation of voice data packages and these can also be updated over time independently of the app.

Many thanks to WABetaInfo for alerting us to this important update for WhatsApp.