iPhone users might soon have the ability to use WhatsApp for communication with individuals who speak different languages. Here are the specifics.
## Functionality operates via Apple’s language translation packs
As noted by WABetaInfo, the newest beta version of WhatsApp on TestFlight contains mentions of a per-chat “Translate messages” option, which will automatically translate all new incoming messages when enabled.
After activating the feature, users can select the language from which messages should be translated and the language into which they should be translated. In the showcased example, messages are automatically converted to English.
At present, WhatsApp necessitates that users tap and hold the message they wish to translate, then tap “More…”, followed by selecting the source and target languages.
Although the new functionality is not yet available to beta testers, WABetaInfo indicates that users will have the capability to translate the complete conversation by default, noting that it will function in both one-on-one and group chats (as long as all participants are sending messages in the same language).
Similar to the per-message translation feature, this relies on Apple’s local language packs. This indicates that translations are carried out on-device, preserving 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 incorporates additional supported languages into its Translate App, support will also grow on WhatsApp.
As with any feature in WhatsApp’s TestFlight version, there is no confirmed release schedule at this time.
To find out more about the feature, follow this link.