Facebook added voice messages to its chat app Messenger in 2013, and the company is improving that feature in its latest update by automatically transcribing these audio messages into text.
The feature is currently live, but only for a few users, and will be rolled out to everyone as the company refines it based on initial feedback from its test audience.
Facebook’s Messenger lead David Marcus writes:
We’re always working on ways to make Messenger more useful. As many of you know, we already offer a feature that enables people to send voice clips to their friends without having to type out the text. Today we are starting to roll out a small test that helps people read the voice clips they receive instead of having to play them out loud. So, for example, if you’re at a concert or in a meeting, and would prefer to read a voice clip from a friend, you now can if you’re part of the small test we’re rolling out. Our plan is to test this feature at a tiny scale for now and we’re looking forward to seeing what you think of it before making the experience more widely available.
Google Voice has long had this feature, where your voice mail is transcribed into text, and sent to your Google Voice inbox. While the feature is quite useful, many users have complained about the accuracy of the transcription, since it depends on a variety of factors, including the caller, background noise and the microphone quality. We hope that Messenger’s transcription is able to overcome these hurdles through its testing phase.
Have you seen this feature live in the Messenger app? Let us know in the comments below.
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