Subtitles and transcripts make communication much easier. From Netflix shows to Google Meet calls, and we always appreciate when apps try to be more inclusive by adding these options.
Google Messages added voice transcriptions with the arrival of the Pixel 7, while Telegram added transcriptions as part of its paid Premium tier. And it looks like WhatsApp will soon join the fray with its own system for transcribing your voice messages.
We first heard of WhatsApp working on transcripts back in 2021. The feature, as we knew it then, fell within the context of iOS, and was based on the iPhone’s built-in tool for converting audio files to text. .
If we go forward to today, the transcript seems to be finally coming to WhatsApp soon, since some tests appear in the latest beta.
This is how the transcription will work in the Facebook app
A dialog in the WhatsApp for iOS beta details the reasons why the application may not be able to transcribe a voice note received in a chatas discovered by WABetaInfo.
And it is possible that the audio does not contain any words that the tool can capture, or that the language is different from the one established by default. It also gives you the option to change the language, indicating that it supports multiple languages out of the box.
We don’t have any information yet on whether the feature works well (or not) for iOS users in its current beta state. The report specifies that WhatsApp continues to take advantage of the transcription capabilities of the iPhone to convert voice notes to text offline, as in previous tests.
Although it is very good for your privacythis approach will require you to download the appropriate language packs to your phone for the function to work.
If you are an iPhone user, you can get beta version 23.3.0.73 from WhatsApp, as long as you are part of Apple’s TestFlight beta testing program. Otherwise, you will have to wait for the transcription feature to reach the stable version. I hope it will be soon.