WhatsApp is the preferred app for hundreds of millions of people around the world to communicate with friends, family and even colleagues at work and with businesses. One of the most popular features is the ability to send notes or voice messages to our contacts, but many of us know that there are those who can abuse this feature, sending endless audiosor audios so short that they could have been a message with two or three written words.
I confess that I am one of those people who sends audios of several minutes, but fortunately for my friends and loved ones, the application is already implementing one of the best features so far: the transcription of voice notes.
This is how audio transcription works on WhatsApp
If you are sent an audio and you don’t want to listen to it, WhatsApp will do it for you and present the message in text form. This long-awaited feature that first began arriving on the iPhone, now It is also coming to Android phones. For now, it is first in beta, but an official launch for all users could be imminent.
The latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (version 2.24.17.7) includes the audio transcription function, as our colleagues at Xataka Mexico have been able to verify. After updating to this version, the first time we receive a voice message, the application will show us a message indicating that the transcription is now available, and we must follow the steps on the screen to configure the function.
In fact, the setup process is very quick and easy, we just need to choose the language in which WhatsApp will transcribe the voice notes and download language data pack (We recommend doing this download while connected to a WiFi network.) Currently, the available languages are Spanish, English, Portuguese, Russian and Hindi.
Left image: example of how WhatsApp voice note transcription works. Right image: message transcription settings in the WhatsApp settings menu. (Images: Xataka Mexico)
Once this function is configured, WhatsApp transcribes all the voice messages we receive automatically from now on. The content of the message appears written below the voice note, allowing us to choose whether we want to listen to it or simply read its content. The transcription is correct, the content is easy to understand, although it may vary depending on the clarity of the dictated message.
If we wish turn off voice memo transcription In WhatsApp, we can do this by accessing the settings menu within the application (by pressing the button with three dots in the upper right corner), then accessing Chat settings and, finally, deactivating the “Voice message transcriptions” option. This way, WhatsApp will no longer automatically transcribe all the audios we receive.