WhatsApp is reportedly working on a feature that will allow Android users to transcribe voice notes.
According to WhatsApp tracker WABetaInfo, the feature will be available in a future update of the app for beta testers. Users will have to download 150MB of new app data for end-to-end encryption on the transcriptions to transcribe a voice note.
“WhatsApp will use the device’s speech recognition to elaborate transcripts, ensuring that the transcription process occurs locally on the user’s device to preserve end-to-end encryption and maintain user privacy,” WABetaInfo said in its report.
Once the data is downloaded, users will be able to see transcriptions of the voice notes in the chat bubble and still be able to access the message without needing to play the audio.
This will also be helpful in cases where you receive longer voice notes from your contacts and do not have the time to go through the whole message. You can read the transcription and find out the details immediately. However, it is not clear how accurate the transcription will be and what languages it will support.
WhatsApp first started working on the feature for iOS users in 2023, according to WABetaInfo, and is reportedly available to beta testers on the WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.9.0.70 update.
For iOS users, the feature is enabled by default and can be turned off by visiting WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Voice Message Transcripts.
The report also added that the transcription for voice notes is also searchable within the app. “When a voice note is transcribed, the text is indexed, making it searchable,” the report added. So, in case you are looking for a voice note that contains a certain term or message, you can find it by typing the keywords in the WhatsApp search bar.
Apple introduced a similar feature for iMessage in iOS 17, wherein a voice note automatically shows up with its transcription in the iMessage app. All iPhone models running on iOS 17 or above updates will have access to it. However, it is only limited to iMessage and no other messaging platform.
For WhatsApp, WABetaInfo said, the feature is under development and is likely to be available in a future update.
