California: WhatsApp is currently working on a new feature for iPhone users that will automatically translate messages inside chats. This update will make it easier for people to talk across different languages. The feature was spotted in the latest iOS beta version (26.11.10.70), according to WABetaInfo.
Though WhatsApp can, at present, translate messages, users only get to do it one at a time, which gets tiring when there are a lot of messages involved. The new feature will fix that by letting users turn on automatic translation from the chat info screen. Post which, every new message will automatically show up in the language of their choosing.
Users will be able to pick both the source language, i.e., the language messages are coming in, and the target language, i.e., the language they want to read them in. The feature is expected to support 21 languages in total, including English, Hindi, Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and more. Supported languages may, however, depend on the iOS version since the feature relies on Apple’s on‑device translation packs.
In order to keep your chats private, WhatsApp says translations will be processed locally on the device, similar to how Apple’s Translate app works. This means messages will not be sent to external servers, and end‑to‑end encryption will stay as it is. Users will need to download language packs to use the feature, but once downloaded, translations will even work without the internet.
The feature is still under development and not yet available to the public or even beta testers. WhatsApp still needs a little more time to refine it before releasing it on a wider scale.
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