WhatsApp Introduces Voice Message Transcripts

WhatsApp introduced a new transcription feature, and it is rolling out globally to Android and iOS users. The latest feature will automatically create a text version of voice clips under the message for moments when users are unable to listen to them. The platform claims that its transcripts are generated on the device and no one else can read them. 

The feature can be turned on by clicking on the “Chats” section and then “Voice message transcripts.” Users can transcribe a voice message by long pressing on the message and tapping on ‘transcribe’. Meanwhile, the Meta-owned platform also noted that it might take a moment for the transcript to appear. If the users receive a “Transcript unavailable” error, it might be due to unsupported transcript language, unrecognisable words, background noise, or unsupported voice message language. WhatsApp also said that voice message transcripts have a possibility of being inaccurate.

"Transcripts are rolling out globally over the coming weeks with a few select languages to start though we plan to add more over the coming months," said the platform in a blog post. Android users can access transcripts in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian. On iOS, the languages that are supported depend on the OS. Notably, in iOS 16+, the supported languages include English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Chinese, and Arabic. The following additional languages are supported on iOS 17+: Danish, Finish, Hebrew, Malay, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, and Thai.