If you are a long time user of WhatsApp, you’re likely aware of the fact that people enjoy sending voice notes when they have a lot to say. While this is convenient for some, it can also leave things open to interpretation, especially if the quality of the recording is poor.

It is why we are intrigued by the latest feature that the messaging platform is reportedly working on – transcription for voice notes.

As discovered by WABetaInfo, the feature is currently being developed for those on iOS before it makes its way to Android.

Based on screenshots shared by the publication, it looks like WhatsApp will ask if they wish to have recordings sent to Apple in order for them to be processed.

This would be interesting on two fronts, as it would not be WhatsApp’s parent company Facebook doing the processing, as well as Apple having a spotty history when it comes to listening to Siri recordings.

While it remains to be seen what the general reaction would be to have recordings transcribed by third parties, the usefulness of such a feature would be significant.

When this feature rolls out, WABetaInfo explains that WhatsApp will create a “Transcript” folder on the platform where recordings will be stored.

It is unclear at the time of writing when the iOS rollout will happen, with Android a mystery too. Given the breadth of the ecosystem, it will be interesting to see which third-party will be doing the transcribing of recordings for those devices.

For now we will need to wait to see just how effective the transcribing is, especially when handling different accents and inflections. Added to this is support for languages outside of English.

There is certainly value in adding such a feature to WhatsApp, but there are also several moving parts to consider.