WhatsApp, the world’s most widely used messaging app with over three billion users across 180 countries, has introduced an in-app message translation feature to make conversations smoother across languages. 

The new update, which began rolling out globally today, allows users to translate messages instantly within private chats, group conversations, and even Channel updates.

The feature is designed to simplify multilingual communication. Users can long-press any message and tap on the ‘Translate’ option to convert text into their preferred language. Both the source and target languages can be selected, and preferences will be saved for future use.

On Android devices, the feature offers an additional advantage with automatic translations for entire chat threads, ensuring that all incoming messages are instantly converted without repeated prompts. iPhone users, meanwhile, will have access to translations in more than 19 languages from day one, while Android users will start with six — English, Spanish, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, and Arabic. More languages will be added in the coming weeks.

The company stressed that privacy remains central to the experience. All translations will be processed directly on the user’s device, in keeping with WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption standards, meaning neither messages nor translations are visible to the platform itself.

By rolling out this feature, WhatsApp hopes to strengthen global connections by removing language barriers that often limit communication. “We hope this feature helps break down language barriers and allows users to connect more deeply with loved ones and communities around the globe,” the company said.

With on-device processing and an expanding roster of supported languages, WhatsApp’s in-app translations are expected to be a game-changer for its massive global user base.