WhatsApp now lets you convert voice messages into text – here’s how

Epically long voice messages don’t always fit into your routine. Or maybe you just don’t want to play them out loud. That’s why WhatsApp is now letting you convert spoken messages into text. Nico Tapia/dpaThere are many situations where you might want to read a voice message rather than listen to it. Maybe you're on a bus and don't have headphones. Perhaps you're in the office and don't want to annoy your colleagues.

Or maybe it's easier to just skim a long, meandering message than to listen to the whole thing.

For all these situations and more, WhatsApp's new transcription function now lets you convert a voice message into text on an iPhone (iOS 16 and up) and Android.

For Apple users, the Siri assistant feature must be activated. The voice messages are then converted into text locally on the device and displayed.

Transcription of voice messages can be easily switched on or off by going into the settings or tapping on the profile picture and then selecting "Chats." Under "Select language," you then set your native language – or the language in which you receive most voice messages.

When a voice message arrives, you have to hold a finger on it until the option with "Transcribe" appears. WhatsApp points out that it may take a moment for the transcript to appear – and that transcripts may contain errors.

On Android mobile devices, only English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian are currently supported for transcripts. However, other languages are already in beta testing and should be available soon.

Otherwise, activating the function on Android is quite similar: open settings, navigate to "Chats/Voice message transcripts" and switch it on. Then tap "Select language" in the same way.