WhatsApp's latest voice note feature has a surprising twist

Available for some beta iOS testers, WhatsApp is releasing a voice message transcription feature to make improve users' experience, according to WABetaInfo.

The WhatsApp news tracker announced: "After installing the latest WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.9.0.70 update available on the TestFlight app, we can confirm that WhatsApp is finally releasing this feature to some beta testers!"

The screenshot shows that the transcription is added to the message bubble as a voice note has been sent.

This feature is enabled by default but in case you do not want your voice messages being transcribed for some reason, you can disable the feature by visiting WhatsApp Settings > Chats > Voice Message Transcripts.

"Note that this feature always preserves end-to-end encryption as the transcription process takes place locally on the user’s device, by using language packs."

"For this reason, the ability to transcribe messages is only available for some users on newer versions of iOS, as it uses the latest APIs provided by iOS 16 that allow the app to process the voice message locally on the user’s device, without the need to transfer the message to external servers."

The transcription feature also allows users to search for information within the message as when the voice note is transcribed, the text is indexed, making it searchable.

"The ability to transcribe voice notes is available for some beta testers that install the latest version of WhatsApp beta for iOS from the TestFlight app, and it is rolling out to even more people over the coming weeks."