WhatsApp Gains Voice Message Transcripts
Popular Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp today announced a new transcription feature that's designed to provide you with a transcript of a voice message received from a friend or family member.

WhatsApp says that voice message transcripts are designed for instances when you're in a loud place and can't stop to listen to a traditional voice message. Transcripts are created on-device, are end-to-end encrypted, and aren't shared with WhatsApp.
WhatsApp users can go to Settings > Chats > Voice Message Transcripts to turn transcriptions on and off and to select a preferred transcript language. A voice message can be transcribed by long pressing on it and tapping on the "transcribe" option.
The voice message transcript feature has been available to WhatsApp beta testers for months now, but it is now ready to start rolling out to all users. WhatsApp says that it will be coming to users worldwide "over the coming weeks." A few select languages will be available at first, including English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian, but more will be added in the future.
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