It’s not often you come across a message in your WhatsApp chats written in a language that’s not your own. Most would automatically dismiss the message without any sort of recognition for the number or profile picture, but for WhatsApp Business owners, ignorance isn’t an option. Now, Meta has rolled out the long-awaited message translations feature to Android and iOS users alike, meaning no more rushing off to Google Translate every five minutes.
It’s about sending a message en español
The feature, which is apparently available to all Android and iOS users (though we’ve yet to receive the upgrade on Android), can be accessed by simply long-pressing any message and hitting ‘Translate’. You’ll be asked to choose the language you want it to be translated from or to, and it downloads that pack to be used in future chats.
Unfortunately, the feature is still in its infancy when it comes to supported languages. South Africa, with its 11 spoken languages, for instance, may not find much use for the feature until the likes of Xhosa, Zulu, and the rest eventually find their way into the app.
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As it is, only six languages are supported on the Android version of the app: English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic — while iOS gets a whole 21 languages to start. Android users get a leg up elsewhere, with automatic message translations that can be applied to individual chats, arriving first for the little green robot.
As ever, Meta hopes to make it clear that the translation all takes place on-device, ensuring that your chats remain end-to-end encrypted and cannot be read by anyone, including WhatsApp. Keep your app up to date, and the feature should be along shortly, if it isn’t already.
