A year after appearing on iOS, audio transcription arrives in the Android version of WhatsApp. You will be able to transform voice messages into text to read them quietly if you want or cannot listen to them.
Like many other instant messengers, WhatsApp allows you to send voice messages using the microphone button, which is very useful for telling a long story – and avoiding typing everything by hand – and conveying emotions. However, they may not always be very suitable. For example, the audio quality can be degraded and make the message incomprehensible, or the recipient may not be able to listen to them if they are surrounded by people.
Also, for a year now, the mobile application on iOS of WhatsApp allows to transcribe voice messages, but not the one on Android. However, it seems that Meta is finally preparing to correct this injustice by introducing this function which converts the spoken words into written text. In any case, this is what the specialized site discovered WABetaInfoin the beta version 2.24.15.5 of the Android app.
WhatsApp Voice Message Transcription: How Does It Work?
On iOS, theWhatsApp’s voice transcription feature helps convert voice messages to text. This feature takes the form of a bubble under the voice notes, provided that the option is activated – you have to go to “Settings”, then “Discussions”, then “Voice message transcriptions”. Be careful, the voice message must last less than two minutes. If it’s longer, tap “Transcribe” in the voicemail.
The deployment of this function on Android was eagerly awaited, especially since March when TheSpyAndroid had discovered several lines of code on this subject. Beta users can now activate it in the chat options, which can be found in the application settings. Once the option is activated, WhatsApp invites them to download a language data pack to enable transcription. The latter relies on the smartphone’s voice recognition to work. The transcription will then appear in the same bubble as that of the voice message.
One of the main advantages of WhatsApp’s transcription service is its security and privacy protection. Thus, transcriptions are processed directly on the device, so that the content remains end-to-end encrypted and is not uploaded to WhatsApp’s servers or those of the manufacturer of your smartphone. This function is already found in Telegram, one of the most popular competitors of Meta’s application – but it is reserved for Telegram Premium subscribers -, while Google Messages, the free SMS, MMS and RCS application, offers it to all its users.
At the moment, only five languages are available, namely English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and Hindi. This suggests that regions where these languages are predominantly spoken will be the first to benefit from the feature in the stable version. On the other hand, the iOS version offers more languages, which suggests that the feature will eventually be introduced in more regions for Android users. It remains to be seen when French will be supported on the Android version of WhatsApp…