WhatsApp's voice memo feature may be getting a modest but welcome improvement

The feature was discovered by WABetaInfo in the WhatsApp iOS app and confirmed by WhatsApp itself However, transcription of voice memos is still "in the early stages of design and prototyping" and may still have to wait

In other words, if you are not a WhatsApp beta tester, it will be quite some time before this feature actually appears In fact, since this feature sends voice data to Apple, it is unclear if it will ever make it to Android

Here's a screenshot shared by WABetaInfo; according to WhatsApp, voice messages are protected by end-to-end encryption, but a disclaimer states that Apple may use the data to improve its own voice recognition technology

Nevertheless, Apple is known for its emphasis on user privacy and security In other words, WhatsApp may have learned how closely WhatsApp and Facebook are connected by the controversial change to its privacy policy earlier this year

Hopefully, this feature will make its way to Android and maintain fairness between the two versions of WhatsApp However, it appears that the recordings will be sent to Google, not Apple, for transcription It would be interesting if the Pixel device could use Google recorder's existing automatic transcription feature and do all the work on the device

Voice message is a very useful tool to have, as it allows you to speak out a message instead of typing it all out by hand For long, complex stories, this can be a real time saver However, the recipient, who is not in a position to hear it, is basically in trouble

The transcript feature allows users to read the voice memo instead of listening to the whole thing, and according to WABetaInfo, once a transcript is created, it is also stored on the device, and the user can select a specific part of the transcript itself, which will take them to another part of the message The user will be able to skip to another part of the message by selecting a specific part of the transcript itself