How to Turn On WhatsApp Voice Message Transcripts easily

A WhatsApp voice message transcripts, in essence, is the written version of a voice message. If someone sends you an audio message, WhatsApp can now transcribe it into text automatically, which is so cool. This is done right from the chat instead of copying like in the old days.

This transcription feature is generated on-device, meaning the text conversion happens directly on your phone and stays protected with WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, ensuring your privacy.

📱 Why Use Voice Message Transcripts on WhatsApp?

Let’s go over, in particular, some of the main reasons why the feature offered is so revolutionary at its core:

• Listen-Free Accessibility: You can go through the voice messages in hundreds of situations, e.g., when you are sitting at the meeting, studying in the library, or walking around in the city with people talking/things being done around you (that is, noisy environments).
• Quicker Skimming: Speed-read the message at a glance without playing the entire audio.
• Record-Keeping: Keeping a textual record of your important voice messages for future reference is a great idea.
• Enhanced Accessibility: Not only good but great for people with hearing impairments who can now easily access voice messages they might not have understood by reading the transcript, and people with speech processing challenges who can now easily access voice messages they have misunderstood by reading the transcript.
• Privacy: Get through the whole conversation discreetly without having to use your speaker or transfer the voice message to headphones.

⚙️ How to Turn On Voice Message Transcripts in WhatsApp (Step-by-Step)

First, before you can actually use this amazing feature, you need to take the step and turn it on yourself. Here’s a guide for both Android and Apple devices:

🟢 For Android:

• Access WhatsApp and select the three-dot menu at the top-right corner.
• Click on Settings.
• Choose chats.
• Afterward, look for Voice Message Transcripts and move the bar right to toggle it on.
• Click on Choose Language when asked.
• Select the language that you find suitable (e.g., English).
• WhatsApp will download the language pack (~136MB) you have chosen. Make sure your connection to Wi-Fi is working or you have enough data.

⚠️ Currently, Android supports English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian.

🍎 For iOS:

• Check that your iPhone is using iOS 16 or newer and that Siri is switched on.
• Simply open WhatsApp, and then go to Settings > Chats.
• Click on Voice Message Transcripts so that you enable it.
• Pick out your language when you are asked to do so.
• Just in case, get the right language pack from the app store.

💡 iOS supports more languages than Android, including French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic.

🌐 Supported Languages for Voice Message Transcription

An overview of languages that have been added to this functionality can be found below.

📲 Android:

• English
• Spanish
• Portuguese
• Russian

🍏 iOS (iOS 16+):

• English
• Spanish
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Turkish
• Chinese
• Arabic

🆕 Additional Languages on iOS 17+:

• Danish
• Finnish
• Hebrew
• Malay
• Norwegian
• Dutch
• Swedish
• Thai

🛠️ How to Utilize the WhatsApp Voice Message Transcript Feature

After you activate the feature, the following are the steps on how you may operate it:

📱 On Android:

• Go to a chat with a voice message.
• Keep your finger on the voice message and wait for the transcript.
• Touch the three-dot icon, and choose Transcribe.
• Next, to the audio, WhatsApp will create the text transcription.
• Click the downward arrow if you want to see the entire text.

🍏 On iOS:

• Having turned on the feature, press and hold the voice message.
• Click on Transcribe.
• Give it a few seconds, and the transcription will be there for you to read.
• Touch the expand icon to see the full text.

⚠️ Siri must be enabled, and your device must meet the minimum OS requirement.

🔄 How to Change or Reset the Language of the Transcript

Do you need to switch over to a different language which is also being supported? You can simply do it in the following way:

• Press the three-dot menu on WhatsApp.
• Go to Settings > Chats > Transcript Language.
• Choose a different language from the list.
• WhatsApp may ask you to install a new language pack.
• Great! Your transcripts will now be in the new language when the one you selected is clicked.

🚫 If you turn off the feature and re-enable it later, the language settings will reset.

🔧 shooting: “Transcript Unavailable” Error

When you come across the “Transcript unavailable” error, you don’t have to worry because it is usually caused by one of the following reasons:

• The voice message is in a language other than your chosen transcript language.
• There is a lot of background noise, which can not be easily transcribed.
• The language is used that has not been supported yet.
• The voice message is short or unclear, and the machine cannot accurately change it into text.

Some things you can do to prevent errors:

• Before using the function, be sure to specify the correct language you are going to use.
• Request the sender to speak in a supported language and clearly.
• When recording, use earphones with a microphone to get clearer audio.

🤖 Can You Transcribe Voice Messages?

Only voice The WhatsApp built-in transcription feature of messages that are new (and received after the feature has been activated) can be transcribed; the old voice messages, those that are prior to the usage of the feature, will not be transcribed. This means that if you want to read old messages in a written form, you must play and possibly type them manually.

🆚 WhatsApp Voice Transcripts vs. Third-Party Apps

Now you may be interested in knowing what the difference is between a built-in WhatsApp transcription and adapted applications, for example. Otter.ai or Google Recorder.

Here is a quick comparison:

Feature	WhatsApp Transcripts	Otter.ai / Others
Native to app	✅	❌
End-to-end encryption	✅	❌
Offline support	✅ (after download)	✅
Language support	Moderate	Extensive
Accuracy	Good (on clear audio)	Often better
Price	Free	May require subscription

At the top of the list? Chat logs from WhatsApp are very suitable for simple, confidential, and fast reading, while other tools may be more advantageous for multiple speakers’ sound files or a professional.

📝 Conclusion: Be Part of the Future of Communication with WhatsApp Message Transcriptions

Converting voice messages to text on WhatsApp is a slow and quiet revolution. With this feature, no matter if you are talking to people through other chats, near a loud place, or you just prefer reading over listening, you can surely experience privacy, convenience, and accessibility all in one shot.

New features that Meta, and ultimately the users, have been enjoying on WhatsApp up to now are such as voice message transcripts, which have been influencing the way we communicate. It doesn’t come as a surprise that we have just become smarter and more inclusive. Therefore, don’t hesitate to give it a try and let the messages both talk and write about what they contain.

❓ FAQs About WhatsApp Voice Message Transcripts