Instant messaging platform WhatsApp is working on a new feature that will allow people to have voice messages transcribed for them.
WhatsAppwas originally reported to be working on voice message transcription way back in September 2021, but the company later canned the project for reasons unknown. Now, it appears that voice message transcriptions are back on the agenda.
A new report by WhatsApp beta watchersWABetaInfonotes that the latest TestFlight version of the app now has voice transcription built right in. That means that we can surely expect the same feature to come to the version of WhatsApp that’s available via the App Store. There is no official timeline for when that might happen, however.
It’s also possible that WhatsApp could choose to pause the project once more, but that now seems unlikely given voice transcription’s recent resurrection. WhatsApp is normally pretty good at progressing features through its beta program and then into the App Store version, thankfully.
As for how it works, WABetaInfo notes that transcriptions aren’t available if no words are recognised or if those that are happen to be in a different language. However, the transcriptions that do work will be processed locally on the device by downloading the required language packs. None of the information is shared with WhatsApp or Apple, which is always a good sign. WABetaInfo does note that you might need to be using a recent version of iOS for that to work, however.
The addition of voice transcription isn’t the only thing of note in WhatsApp beta 23.3.0.73, however. WABetaInfo says that the update also deals with an issue that saw some people unable to send documents via the app.
If you have access to the WhatsApp TestFlight betas you can download this new version now. The beta program is full, however, so no new people can get in on the action right now.
