WhatsApp on Android may soon get voice message transcription

WhatsApp may finally bring a feature that it neglected to bring on Android for a while. We are talking about the voice message transcription feature. The feature was introduced on iOS almost a year ago, however, it has yet to reach Android. As the name suggests, it lets you see a transcription of a voice message shared by others, allowing you to save some time.

Voice message transcription feature may arrive soon on Android

TheSpAndroid blog spotted a code in the latest beta version of the app that reveals the availability of voice message transcription on Android. The WhatsApp beta for Android with version number 2.24.7.7 mentions details about transcriptions and the ability to enable it.

The code hints that Android users will have to download 150MB of new app data to enable transcription. Further, it also has a warning that notifies users that the feature will use on-device speech recognition to offer secure transcriptions.

“WhatsApp uses your device’s speech recognition to provide end-to-end encrypted transcriptions,” mentions the code as per the report.

Now, WhatsApp hasn’t confirmed any information about this feature on Android, however, given the mentions in the code, expect it to be available soon. The feature will let people save some time. For those unaware of how transcription of voice messages works, it’s as simple as converting a voice message/voice note into a written form so users can get a chunk of information in one read.

This feature can be useful for those who despise voice messages or can’t listen to them since they may not have access to headphones or earphones. When it comes to the social media space, voice message transcription isn’t something new. The feature is available in some apps such as Telegram.

Making the feature available to everyone on WhatsApp makes sense, but the question is why it took WhatsApp this long to work on it for Android. Nonetheless, the latest beta update gives us hope and we can’t wait to use it on Android.

As for when it may arrive to the public, WhatsApp may roll out the feature sometime this year. However, we can’t say for sure since WhatsApp has yet to confirm the same.