Transcription Language Limitations

What's happening?

You might notice that:

• Transcription works for voice messages in some languages but not others
• You see a message indicating your language is not supported
• The transcription option appears grayed out or unavailable for certain voice messages

Why is this happening?

WhatsApp's voice transcription feature uses on-device AI processing rather than cloud-based solutions. This approach limits the number of languages that can be supported due to:

• On-device AI models need to be compact enough to run on your phone
• Each language requires its own specialized model
• Limited device storage and processing power restricts how many language models can be included

WhatsApp is expanding its language support incrementally, with plans to add more languages over time as on-device AI technology improves.

Currently supported languages

WhatsApp's built-in voice message transcription supports different languages depending on your device:

iOS Devices

For iOS 16+:

• English
• Spanish
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Turkish
• Chinese
• Arabic

Additional languages for iOS 17+:

• Danish
• Finnish
• Hebrew
• Malay
• Norwegian
• Dutch
• Swedish
• Thai

Android Devices

Currently limited to:

• English
• Portuguese
• Spanish
• Russian

Note: Language availability may vary by region and device. This list is subject to change as WhatsApp adds more languages.

What can you do?

• Check the list of currently supported languages in the WhatsApp settings
• Ensure your app and phone language settings match the language of the voice message
• Make sure you've updated to the latest version of WhatsApp
• For unsupported languages, you may need to wait until WhatsApp expands its language offerings