WhatsApp Launches Real-Time, On-Device Message Translation
Meta is rolling out a real-time translation feature for its WhatsApp messaging service, enabling users to instantly translate messages within chats. To use it, users can long-press a message and select "Translate." The feature, which will initially support a selection of languages on Android and iOS, is designed with privacy in mind, as all translations occur directly on the user's device rather than on Meta's servers. This ensures the content of the translated chats remains private.
Unpacked:
Android users can translate messages in English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic. iPhone users have access to translations in more than 19 languages at launch. WhatsApp plans to add support for more languages over time.
The translation feature works in one-on-one chats, group chats, and Channel updates, making it useful for both private and public conversations across language barriers.
WhatsApp performs all translations locally on the user's device, ensuring that message content is never sent to Meta's servers. This preserves end-to-end encryption and keeps translated chats private, unlike many messaging apps that process translations in the cloud.
On iOS, users manually translate messages by tapping 'Translate.' On Android, users can enable automatic translation for entire conversation threads. Additionally, iOS supports more languages at launch compared to Android.