WhatsApp has been working on chat messages and channel updates translation feature since last year, which is now available to some Android users enrolled in the beta program.
According to WABetaInfo, this translation feature is available to some users having beta version 2.25.12.25 of WhatsApp for Android, with the rollout expected to expand to more beta users over the coming weeks.
This feature supports translation of Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi, and Russian languages. And since the translation is done on-device without requiring an active internet connection, users must download a language pack corresponding to the language they want to translate. Alternatively, users can also download a pack that can automatically detect the language of incoming messages and translate them.
The toggle to enable translation can be found in the chat info screen, where users can choose which language they want the messages to be automatically translated from. This can be done on a per-chat basis for private and group chats. And if users don’t want to translate messages automatically, they can do so manually by opening the message option and tapping “Translate.”
However, don’t expect WhatsApp’s translation to be as accurate as the translations done by cloud-based services since WhatsApp’s translation happens on-device using lightweight language packs. Hence, WhatsApp will let users provide feedback to improve translation without sharing the original and translated messages with Meta.
If you are using WhatsApp for Android’s beta version and got this translation feature, let us know how your experience has been so far.