WhatsApp releasing voice message transcription feature
Technology
This feature always preserves end-to-end encryption as the transcription process takes place locally
(Web Desk) – WhatsApp has started trial of a new feature that will enable users to get the transcript of a voice message.
The feature is available for some beta testers using beta for iOS 23.9.0.70. It will be launched for all users after the trial.
According to WABetaInfo, “Users can get the content of a voice message in situations where they can’t listen to the voice note, providing more flexibility and accessibility in communication”.
A screenshot shared by the website shows the transcription is added to the message bubble, making it easier for users to read. This feature is enabled by default but it can be disabled by visiting WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Voice Message Transcripts.
“Note that this feature always preserves end-to-end encryption as the transcription process takes place locally on the user’s device, by using language packs.
For this reason, the ability to transcribe messages is only available for some users on newer versions of iOS, as it uses the latest APIs provided by iOS 16 that allow the app to process the voice message locally on the user’s device, without the need to transfer the message to external servers,” the WhatsApp news tracker said.
The transcription feature for voice notes also allows users to search for specific information within the message. When a voice note is transcribed, the text is indexed, making it searchable. This means that if a user is looking for certain information within a long voice note, or they do not remember which voice note contains the content they are looking for, they can simply search for the relevant keyword or phrase by using the search bar, and the transcription will highlight where that text appears within the message.
