WhatsApp tests transcription of audio messages – 04/27/2023 – Tech

WhatsApp has launched an automatic transcription of audio messages, reports people with access to the update on social networks since Wednesday (26). The feature makes it easier to receive messages when it’s not possible to hear them and increases accessibility for people with hearing impairments.

Wanted, Meta, owner of WhatsApp, says it does not comment on rumors. Thus, it is not possible to know how many users already have the option of automatically transcribing the audios, nor what was the selection criterion for the test group.

The specialized website WABetaInfo reported in September 2021 that WhatsApp was working on a feature of the genre. The application already hosted bots capable of transcribing audio, but the result showed errors.

Public relations professional Mateus Pacheco says he gained access, this Thursday (27), to automatic transcription in the normal and most updated version of WhatsApp. He celebrates the novelty, since he will no longer need to listen to the audios.

“He still gets some things wrong, but it’s already a help”, evaluated Pacheco.

Another user commented that the new function will help deaf people who use the application a lot.

The first publications about the news on Twitter are from the afternoon of Wednesday (26).

The WABetaInfo website had also disclosed in 2021 that the transcript would be stored in the application itself. In this way, the developers of WhatsApp or the mobile operating system (Android or iPhone) remain without access to the audio content, for privacy reasons.