Translate WhatsApp voice messages and calls

How to set it up

1. 1
   For voice messages: “Live Listen” with “Screen sound”

   Press Start in Tingdong, then press play on the voice message in WhatsApp Desktop or in the web client. The captions appear as it plays — original line on top, your language below.

2. 2
   For calls: take the call in WhatsApp Desktop on the Mac

   In Tingdong pick “Call Translation”, then choose “Tingdong Microphone” (Website version) as the microphone in WhatsApp’s settings. That one menu choice is the whole setup.

3. 3
   Talk, or just read along

   With Call Translation on, they hear your voice plus a translated voice and you read bilingual captions (Website version). If you only want to understand them, “Live Listen” captions the call without touching your mic.

Why a voice message has no captions to begin with

Chat apps translate text because text is already text. A voice message is a recording, so there is nothing for a translation feature to operate on unless the app first transcribes it — and a transcript, where one exists, is in the language that was spoken, which is not the problem you have. Tingdong takes the audio as it plays on your Mac and produces the translation directly, which means it does not matter whether the message is ten seconds or four minutes, whether it is a supplier explaining a delay or family talking over background noise. The same route covers a group voice note, an audio file someone sent, and a voice message you play back for the third time to catch a number.

Frequently asked questions