WhatsApp may soon let users transcribe voice messages

WhatsApp for Android is testing a new feature that will allow users to transcribe voice messages, according to a report. It was spotted via a feature tracker in a beta version of the WhatsApp app for the Android platform. The feature will potentially allow users to generate transcriptions for voice messages they’ve sent and received. A similar feature was reportedly introduced in the WhatsApp beta for iOS a few months ago and is now said to be making its way to the Android platform as well.

Transcriptions of voice messages

According to According to WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo, a new banner may appear below a voice transcript, asking the user if they want a transcript of the voice message they sent or received. According to the claims, the feature was discovered in WhatsApp for Android beta app version 2.24.15.5.

WhatsApp Voice Message Transcription Feature
Photo credit: WABetaInfo

The feature is speculated to be useful in situations where listening to audio recordings is not an option on the instant messaging platform. Additionally, users exchanging long voice messages can understand them better by getting a transcript. The voice message transcription feature is said to support five languages: English, Hindi, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, and Spanish.

The feature tracker claims that the option to transcribe voice messages is available to some beta testers using the latest version of WhatsApp for Android beta through the Google Play beta program. Gadgets 360 staff could not verify the availability of this feature in WhatsApp beta for Android. However, it is possible that this feature is slowly rolling out to users.

Other possibilities

WhatsApp is reportedly testing another feature: a dedicated video notes mode for the camera interface. The change could see a button for recording video notes appear in the camera UI alongside the existing Video and Photo options. It has reportedly been spotted in the beta version of WhatsApp on both Android and iOS platforms.