Facebook kicks off voice transcription trials in Messenger

Wouldn’t it be handy if you could read your voice clips? Facebook thinks so.

Facebook has begun trialing a new voice transcription feature for its Messenger app.

Ever received a bunch of voice clips on Facebook Messenger but not been able to play them because you're in a meeting or up to your ears in work? Well, Facebook understands, which is why it's thought up a new voice transcription feature.

David Marcus, head of Facebook's Messenger team, announced on Facebook that the social network is currently trialing the new feature with a select number of users to see what they make of it.

Basically when someone sends you a voice clip, it will jot down the audio in text form so you can easily read it without having to actually listen to it. It's a good idea that offers recipients a quick way to check up on voice messages without having to sneak off in the middle of a meeting or plug earphones in.

“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,” said Marcus yesterday.

“Our plan is to test this feature at a tiny scale for nowand we're looking forward to seeing what you think of it.”

Facebook says voice transcription will be turned on automatically, however the feature can easily be disabled in the settings should users dislike the feature.

The trial stage has only just kicked off, so don't bank on getting the new feature any time soon. If Facebook gets some good responses during testing, then we can bet it will be widely rolled out.

Nathan George

Nathan George is a freelance journalist who has contributed to T3.com in the fields of gaming, social media, streaming services, autonomous vehicles, phones, virtual reality headsets, wireless speakers and future tech. He studied journalism at the University of the West of England and is a holder of the Bronze and Silver The Duke of Edinburgh Award.