Skip to main content

WhatsApp for iPhone may soon offer automatic message translation across 21 languages

iPhone users may soon be able to use WhatsApp to communicate with people who don’t speak their language. Here are the details.

Feature works based on Apple’s language translation packs

As spotted by WABetaInfo, the latest beta build of WhatsApp on TestFlight includes references to a per-chat “Translate messages” toggle, which will automatically translate all new incoming messages when activated.

After turning on the feature, users can choose which language messages should be translated from and which language they should be translated into. In the example shown, messages are automatically translated into English.

Currently, WhatsApp whatsapp translation 9to5mac that requires the user to tap and hold the message they want to translate, tap “More…”, then select the original and target languages.

While the new feature isn’t readily available to beta testers, WABetaInfo says users will be able to translate the entire conversation by default, adding that it will work in both one-on-one and group chats (provided all participants send messages in the same language).

As with the per-message translation feature, this relies on Apple’s on-device language packs. This means that translations are processed locally, maintaining end-to-end encryption on chats.

Currently, Apple supports Arabic, Dutch, English (United Kingdom), English (United States), French (France), German (Germany), Hindi, Indonesian, Italian (Italy), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (China mainland), Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Spain), Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

As Apple adds more supported languages to its Translate App, support will also expand on WhatsApp.

As with any feature in WhatsApp’s TestFlight build, there’s no official release timeline yet.

To learn more about the feature, follow this link.

Worth checking out on Amazon

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Marcus Mendes Marcus Mendes

Marcus Mendes is a Brazilian tech podcaster and journalist who has been closely following Apple since the mid-2000s.

He began covering Apple news in Brazilian media in 2012 and later broadened his focus to the wider tech industry, hosting a daily podcast for seven years.