Meta adds real-time language translation to WhatsApp

Meta is adding real-time language translation to its popular messaging app WhatsApp, in a bid to make communication easier among its billions of users worldwide.

WhatsApp translations will initially be available in 19 languages on iPhone and six languages on Android, with additional languages to follow, according to Meta, which also owns Facebook and Instagram.

Users who want to translate a WhatsApp message will be able to long-press the text, tap Translate, and select a language – similar to the language translations already available in Apple’s iMessage.

Android users will also be able to turn on automatic translations for an entire WhatsApp conversation.

We hope this feature helps break down language barriers and allows users to connect more deeply,” Meta said in a blog post announcing the change.

For Android users, translations will initially be available for English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic.

Meanwhile, iPhone users will have access to those six languages plus Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

The translations will occur directly on users’ devices “to protect the privacy of [their] chats,” Meta said.

The messaging app uses end-to-end encryption, and Meta has said it does not read or listen to personal messages.

WhatsApp has more than three billion users in over 180 countries, Meta said.