I like WhatsApp sounds. It’s not ironic, I got a few from my girlfriend just before writing this post, and that leads me to become a much more active user of them than I was until I met her. The fact is that if until the beginning of the summer (when we knew each other) my opinion was mainly based on the memes that circulate on social networks about endless voice messages, today I consider them a very practical tool and that I also use them daily.

Now it is true that on certain occasions audio messages can be a bit “awkward”. I’m mainly referring to situations where you can’t listen to them with as much privacy as you’d like (for example, in a public place and without headphones), or when you can’t spend a few minutes just listening to them and prefer to pace yourself reading bit by bit instead of having to replay pause and then reactivate.

The good news, which we first heard about a few months ago, is that Meta has started testing an automatic transcription system WhatsApp audio files. Well, today we can read that finally the function started rolling out to Android users. In this permanent confrontation that some technologies seem to have with the policies of the European Union to protect its citizens, this function will not be available for the common European space at the moment.

It may seem like I’m exaggerating, but it’s actually one of those features that once you know about its existence, you wonder how we ever got by without it. Of course in this regard We have to realize that WhatsApp is a step behind other apps who already offer something similar. However, and as I always say in these cases, better late than never and I look forward to seeing Meta overcome the obstacles that currently prevent it from offering this feature to its European users.

Meanwhile, those with access to this feature will be able to enjoy the convenience of converting audio to text and reading it at their own pace. And this improvement, though simple, It makes a big difference in everyday lifeespecially for those who use WhatsApp in contexts where silence is essential, or simply prefer reading instead of listening. In addition, the fact that the transcription is performed directly on the device allows us to maintain peace of mind when it comes to privacy.