Automated text translation by WhatsApp

 WhatsApp is about to Launch Automated Text Translation Feature    

How multi-lingual are you? I mean, sure, you know those international words from adios to namaste to zeitgeist, but if a group chat on a messaging service has a long message in Spanish, or German or Chinese, what do you do? WhatsApp has the answer. WhatsApp will reportedly support only a select number of languages for message translation when the feature launches. This includes English, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic. WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature which will automatically translate messages in chats. According to a report available, Meta’s instant messaging platform is testing a new feature whicht will allow users to decide whether the app should automatically translate all future chats to a preferred language. The feature is reportedly available for testing to select WhatsApp for Android users in the latest beta version. 

The report stated that in a future version of the app, users will be able to translate a selected WhatsApp message to a language they prefer. Additionally, the app will also allow them to automate this process for all new messages. After the user has selected a preferred language, WhatsApp will prompt them to download a language pack. The feature will work through language packs, with users seeing a notification which says: “read your messages in your preferred language,” with the option to toggle a switch so all new messages in the selected thread will be translated. Then, a panel will let you choose the language into which the messages should be rendered.

The messages, once translated, will bear a “Translated” badge within the chat bubble to indicate that this specific message has been translated from another language. This will help the user to distinguish between original and translated messages, reducing potential misunderstanding. Suddenly, if you’re reading a thread that’s mostly in another language, you won’t need to copy messages laboriously into an external translation app to be able to keep up. This is handy in lots of situations, for instance, if your local housing association WhatsApp group has an international constituency but where messaging is conducted in Spanish, say. No longer will you need to guess at words, and those linguistic false friends will be outed. So, “Me tengo constipado” will correctly appear as “I have a cold,” and not what I thought it meant.

According to the report, initially, WhatsApp will only offer support for a limited number of languages which would likely include English, Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Arabic. Additionally, WhatsApp is expected to use its indigenously developed technology for this feature, translating messages on-device for user privacy. The ability to translate messages instantly during conversations will help maintain the flow of communication, making it easier for users to understand and respond in real-time. Although this feature is still in development, it seems that WhatsApp is now committed to further enhancing this functionality through new automatic translation options. So far, the feature has been seen in a beta version of the app for Android devices, though it is likely WhatsApp is working on introducing it for the iPhone as well.

Previously, it had been reported that the technology was based on Google’s live translation technology, but that seems no longer to be the case. “It looks like WhatsApp is actually developing its own in-house technology to support message translation,” the report says. This has a big benefit for users as, “This approach still preserves end-to-end encryption as their solution will process messages on-device. Therefore, WhatsApp needs to download some language packs to translate messages.” What isn’t yet clear is whether it’s only the incoming messages which will be translated from the original language to your preferred one, or whether, when you reply it will be interpreted in the other direction. Not only is that more secure but it makes interoperability between iPhone and Android users simpler.

Earlier, it was reported that WhatsApp is exploring ways to offer Google Pixel-like voice transcription feature for voice messages. According to news reports, WhatsApp is currently testing the feature which offers textual transcription for both incoming and outgoing audio notes. Similar to the probable message translation feature, users will be required to download a language pack if they wish to transcribe voice messages in a preferred language. Additionally, this feature would likely use on-device processing as well.