WhatsApp tests voice message transcription
In March, the WABetaInfo portal wrote that WhatsApp was working on a voice message transcription feature. With this option, the company aims to significantly improve the convenience of the messenger.
WhatsApp is currently testing the feature with a limited group of beta testers in a few countries. Participants have the option to enable transcription features for incoming and outgoing messages, which requires downloading additional data to preserve user privacy.
Transcripts are generated on the device, so no one can listen to voice messages or read transcriptions.
The feature supports English, Spanish, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese and Hindi. Support will be expanded to more languages in the future.
Transcription of voice messages increases the accessibility of the application, improving the ability to communicate for people with hearing impairments. In addition, the transcription feature will be useful in noisy environments when it is not possible to listen to the audio message.
This option will be useful for those who receive long voice messages and do not want to waste time listening to them. It is also easier to search for the necessary information in transcripts, rather than playing each audio message for this.