WhatsApp announced, this Tuesday (23), the introduction of a new feature that allows users to translate messages into their preferred language, on both iOS and Android devices.
With this new feature, whenever a message is received in a different language, the user can press and hold the text and select "Translate." They can then choose the desired language and download it for future translations.
The tool is available in individual conversations, groups, and channel updates. On Android, users can enable automatic translation for a specific conversation thread, ensuring that all messages received in that thread are translated immediately.
According to Meta, the company that owns WhatsApp, the entire translation process takes place directly on the user's device, ensuring that messages remain encrypted and beyond the reach of the platform itself.
The feature comes a few months after Apple launched real-time translation in its Messages app.
Currently, Android users can translate messages into six languages: English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic. On iPhone, the list is broader, including Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
There is no information yet on when the translation option will be available on the web version of WhatsApp or on the Windows and Mac apps.
