People with hearing impairments will have extreme difficulties listening to voice messages, which could negatively impact their experience of a messaging app.
To address this issue, WhatsApp introduced voice message transcription for iOS last year, and now the feature is also available on Android.
The voice transcription allows users to read their received voice messages instead of listening to them.
According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp has started rolling out the message transcription feature to a small group of beta testers in certain regions.
WhatsApp message transcription is now available in English, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, and Hindi, the most used languages in the WhatsApp community.
After selecting a language, WhatsApp will download an additional data package to ensure your privacy. All transcripts are generated on your device.
WhatsApp assures that all voice messages are end-to-end encrypted, further empowering you with control over your privacy.
Besides adding convenience to conversations, voice message transcription provides users with a quick reference for future referrals, enabling quick searches and context reviews.