WhatsApp just made text translation way easier for iPhone and Android users
iPhone and Android users can now have access to Text Translation on WhatsApp.
Ever been stuck copy-pasting WhatsApp messages into Google Translate just to figure out what someone said? There is finally some good news.
That little detour in the middle of a conversation is now a thing of the past. WhatsApp is rolling out a built-in translation tool, so you can understand messages in real time without leaving the app.
The update works on both iPhone and Android, making it way easier to chat with friends, family, or colleagues across different languages. No more juggling apps, now the translation happens right where the conversation is happening.
Starting today, users can long-press on any message in 1:1 chats, group conversations, or even Channel updates, then hit the new “Translate” option. From there, you can pick the language you want the message translated into or out of.
Emmanuel Umahi
The feature is launching gradually, but there’s a split between platforms. On iPhone, you’ll get support for more than 19 languages including French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, and Korean right away. Meanwhile, on Android, the rollout starts with only six languages: English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic. However, Android users also receive a neat extra: the ability to automatically translate entire chat threads. That means every incoming message in a conversation can appear in your preferred language without you lifting a finger.
WhatsApp isn’t the first to the idea; Google has offered “Tap to Translate” for messages on Android for years, and Telegram has had in-app translation tools baked in since 2021. But WhatsApp adding its own version matters simply because of scale: with more than 2 billion users, even a basic translation option instantly dwarfs what rivals can offer.
It’s not quite real-time subtitles in your ear or AR captions floating on screen, but for WhatsApp’s global base, it’s a big quality-of-life upgrade. The company says more languages are on the way as the rollout expands.
Oyinebiladou Omemu
