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| WhatsApp secret feature: reading voice messages in text format. |
If you've ever wanted to read your WhatsApp voice messages rather than listen to them, there's a secret feature that allows you to do just that.
WhatsApp voice messages have consistently been a divisive feature that people either adore or despise. Certain individuals love them for their ease and personalization, while others view them as bothersome and time-intensive.
What if you could take advantage of voice messages without needing to hear them? Due to a concealed WhatsApp feature, you can now convert voice messages into text—with just a couple of taps.
This capability may seem like magic to individuals who dislike opening voice notes in loud environments or when they're pressed for time. Nonetheless, even though it was launched months back, the majority of WhatsApp users remain unaware of its existence. The snag? It does not activate automatically and needs users to switch it on themselves.
How to activate transcription for WhatsApp voice messages
To initiate the transcription feature, launch WhatsApp and go directly to the settings menu. Then, choose “Chats” and search for “Transcripts for audio messages.” This setting is initially set to "never," so you must change it to "manual." Regrettably, there is currently no feature for automatic transcription—meaning you will need to initiate it manually each time.
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Before you hurry to attempt it, keep in mind that language support differs based on your device. Android users presently can access voice message transcription solely in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian. iPhone users who are Apple enthusiasts have additional choices if their device operates on iOS 16 or newer; for instance, German, English, Italian, and a variety of other languages are available, with even more introduced in iOS 17.
Unfortunately, it's still uncertain when Android will enhance its support for additional languages.
To convert a voice message to text, just press and hold on the message until the context menu shows up. Press “Transcribe,” and there it is—the text will appear immediately beneath the voice note. It's similar to possessing a personal assistant that rapidly takes notes for you.
Confidentiality and safety of WhatsApp transcriptions.
A lot of individuals are justifiably worried about privacy regarding voice recognition technology. However, here's the comforting information you require: WhatsApp performs all transcription directly on your device. As stated on their official blog, the transcriptions are created locally, and your voice messages are secured with end-to-end encryption.
No one beyond the chat, not even WhatsApp, can reach your voice messages or the converted text. You can utilize the feature even when your phone is in airplane mode or offline, which verifies that all processes occur on your device.
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For users of iPhone, this technology relies on Siri, the voice assistant from Apple. Ensure Siri is enabled on your iPhone to use the feature. This local processing approach clarifies why language options and accessibility vary between Android and iPhone, since WhatsApp utilizes Apple’s advanced on-device speech recognition technology, which Android systems have not entirely matched as of yet.
Reasons transcription isn't flawless and why it remains transformative.
Although this functionality saves a lot of time, it remains under development. Transcriptions are not always accurate, particularly when there is background noise in the recording or the speaker does not articulate well. When WhatsApp’s system has difficulty comprehending a word or phrase, it just presents a blank or an underscore. This may result in some odd-looking text messages that bring to mind the nonsense we needed to decipher in school language activities.