Voice transcription will be available on WhatsApp shortly

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WhatsApp is developing voice note transcription feature for Android users. A later version of the app will have the feature available for beta testers. To transcribe a voice note, users must download 150MB of additional app data in order to enable end-to-end encryption. To maintain end-to-end encryption and user privacy, WhatsApp will transcribe messages using the device's speech recognition feature. The transcription process will take place locally on the user's device.

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 users receive longer voice notes from their contacts and do not have the time to go through the whole message. They 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, 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 users are looking for a voice note that contains a certain term or message, they can find it by typing the keywords in the WhatsApp search bar.

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