WhatsApp may soon receive voicemail transcription

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(Pocket-lint) – WhatsApp appears to be preparing two new features for arrival on the platform, voicemail transcription and end-to-end encryption of cloud backups.

Features are not yet available, but we do know that the most secure cloud backups will arrive on both iOS and Android, while voicemail transcription will only make its way to iOS initially.

The latter was first spotted by WABetaInfo, as many of these upcoming WhatsApp features are often, in a development version of the iOS app, with the feature set as optional for those granting access to speech recognition.

The point of sale report, interestingly, points out that the voice data will not be shared with Facebook – the owner of WhatsApp – and instead will all be handled by Apple. If a message is transcribed, however, it is still saved locally in WhatsApp’s database, just in case you need to access it later.

The feature is also expected to help Apple improve its voice recognition technology, but it is not yet clear when – or even if – voice transcription will arrive on Android.

When it comes to end-to-end encryption for cloud backups, the situation is a bit more developed, with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirming last week that WhatsApp will be the “first global messaging service on this scale. to provide end-to-end encryption. messaging and backups “to users.

Like voicemail transcription, that’s pretty much exactly what it says on the tin, and should allow users of either operating system to encrypt backups stored in Google Drive or iCloud.

Written by Conor Allison. Originally published on September 13, 2021.