WhatsApp for iOS gets text detection: What is it and how to use

Available on Apple App Store, the update’s changelog, however, does not mention the text detection feature. It only states the ability to record a voice note and share it through Status along with other features. But WaBetaInfo in its report confirms that more people who install the update will be able to use this feature.

What is WhatsApp text detection feature?

The feature enables users to extract text from images shared on WhatsApp. Once the feature is available, users will need to open an image that contains text and they will see a new button that lets them copy text from the image.

Readers must note that the feature is only available on iOS 16 as WhatsApp uses iOS 16 APIs to detect text within images. Additionally, the feature is not compatible with view once images for added privacy.

In other news, WhatsApp is reportedly working on a new feature that will make it easier to recognize messages received from unknown contacts in WhatsApp group chats. According to a report by WaBetaInfo, the instant messaging app has released the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.5.12 update from the Play Store. The update brings improvement to the feature that WhatsApp introduced in December 2022 which swapped numbers with push names in the message bubble of group chats.

As per a screenshot shared in the report, everytime a user will receive a message from an unknown contact in a group chat, they will see a push name instead of the mobile number in the chat list. Same feature has also been released to some iOS beta testers after installing the WhatsApp beta for iOS 23.5.0.73 update.