WhatsApp to add manual transcription option for voice messages

WhatsApp is improving its voice message transcription feature for iPhone users, Pepelac News reported. Soon, users will be able to manually choose which voice messages they want transcribed.

Initially, the feature automatically converted all incoming voice messages to text in one of 41 available languages. Now, WhatsApp is testing a manual mode where users can trigger transcription by tapping a dedicated button in the message interface.

This feature is being developed for iOS 16 and newer. WhatsApp emphasizes privacy: all processing is done locally using Apple’s on-device language models, with no data sent to external servers. End-to-end encryption remains in place.

Currently, the feature is available to a limited number of beta testers, but it’s expected to roll out to a wider group in the coming weeks. A global release date has not yet been announced. Read 'Zamin' on Telegram!