WhatsApp transcription for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Every voice note becomes readable text, at your pace, without having to ask anyone to relay it.
Free to try. No download, no sign-up.
Abrège
online
Forwarded message
- Wants to move Sunday brunch to Saturday noon
- Her cousin Marie is coming with her new boyfriend
- Needs your confirmation before 8pm tonight
A voice note, when you can't hear it
For you, a voice note isn't
a shortcut
.
It's a message you don't receive.
Native transcription helps, when it's available and when it understands. It hands you the word-for-word text, with blanks. Abrège hands you the whole message, to read at your own pace, without having to ask anyone.
Summary · 6 s
- • Meeting moved to Tuesday 2pm.
- • Confirm with the client before tonight.
- • Bring the file we prepared.
- • Send the signed contract if ready.
A voice note can't be read
Transcribing WhatsApp voice notes for deaf and hard-of-hearing people answers a very concrete problem: a voice message can't be read. When you can't hear, or can't any more, a three-minute voice note becomes a wall. You have to ask someone to listen to it, to summarise it, sometimes to replay it. This page brings together four different realities that hit the same obstacle: deafness and hearing loss, the age-related hearing loss that comes with time, tinnitus and listening fatigue, and sign language as a first language. Not to mention loved ones, who send voice notes without knowing whether they'll be understood.
For all these situations, the standard solution, asking the sender to write instead, is socially heavy and not always respected. Abrège changes the balance: you no longer need to ask, you turn the voice notes into text yourself. The sender keeps sending audio as they're used to, and you read at your leisure.
WhatsApp native transcription or Abrège?
On iPhone, WhatsApp now transcribes voice notes in French, and it's a real step forward for accessibility: the processing happens on the device, nothing goes to a server. Here honestly is what each one brings.
| WhatsApp native transcription | Abrège | |
|---|---|---|
| Languages | French on iPhone (iOS 16+). No French on Android | French on iPhone and Android |
| Processing | On your device, nothing leaves it | Transcribed via OpenAI's API, then the audio is deleted |
| What you get | The word-for-word text | A clear summary, or the full text if you prefer |
| Long voice notes | All the text stays to read | The gist in a few lines |
| Getting started | Turn it on in settings (Siri required) | Nothing to turn on, you forward the voice note |
| Price | Free | Free: 5 summaries/month, then €3/month |
In short: if you're on iPhone and the word-for-word text is enough, the native feature is excellent, and more private since nothing leaves your phone. Abrège takes over if you're on Android (where French doesn't exist), if the voice note is long, or if you want the gist rather than all the text.
How it works
Three seconds, zero effort.
Forward the voice note
To Abrège, on WhatsApp. Yours or a friend's.
It listens for you
Six seconds, then the audio is deleted.
You read what matters
The key points, the thing to do. Nothing else.
Five situations, one obstacle
Not hearing a voice note isn't a single reality. Here are the five cases we see most, and what concretely changes in each.
Deaf and hard of hearing: reading without depending on anyone
When you're deaf or hard of hearing, the problem with a voice note isn't only technical, it's social. Systematically asking "can you write it out?" puts every exchange in a position of asking, and many people end up not replying to voice notes rather than asking again.
With Abrège, you have nothing left to ask: you forward the voice note, you read the text, you reply normally. The sender doesn't even need to know. It works in groups too, where voice notes pile up and no one will rephrase for you: you forward the one that matters, privately, and come back to the conversation with the information.
Age-related hearing loss: hearing the voice note without understanding it
With age, the high frequencies go first. In practice, an older parent hears perfectly well that the voice note arrived, even hears the voice, but the consonants blur and the meaning escapes them. They ask you to repeat, they turn up the volume, and often end up saying they understood so as not to be a bother.
Text fixes that with no hearing aid or complicated setup: the message can be read, re-read, and shown large if the phone's font is enlarged. And if the person isn't comfortable with technology, a relative can do the forward for them. Nothing to install on their phone.
Tinnitus and listening fatigue: resting your ears
It's rarely discussed: listening isn't only hard, it's tiring, and sometimes painful. With tinnitus, a constant ringing overlays the voice, and it takes constant effort to separate the two. After a day of meetings, a five-minute voice note isn't just annoying, it costs.
Many people then put voice notes off and end up piling them up. Going through text removes the listening effort from the equation: you read, calmly, no headphones, no turning up the volume, no further strain. The ears rest and the information still arrives.
Sign language: written text rather than unusable audio
For many deaf signers, the first language is sign language, and written language comes second. That's not a detail: reading sometimes takes effort, and a transcription is nothing like a message in sign language.
But between written text you can re-read at your own pace and an audio voice note that's completely inaccessible, the choice is quick. Text at least gives access to the information, lets you re-read it, have it translated if needed, and reply to it. Abrège doesn't replace sign language and doesn't claim to: it makes readable what would otherwise stay out of reach.
Sending a voice note to a hard-of-hearing loved one
The other side of the problem is rarely raised: when you know a loved one hears poorly, you hesitate before sending a voice note. You wonder whether they'll understand, whether they'll dare say so, whether it'd be better to type it all out. Many end up writing walls of text, or sending nothing at all.
Here too, text unblocks the situation, and nobody needs to change their habits: keep sending your voice notes as before. If your loved one uses Abrège, they'll read them. And if you're the one managing their phone, you can set up the forwarding once and for all, without asking anything more of them.
Accuracy, accents and group voice notes: what to expect
Let's be clear about the limits. On a voice note in decent French, even with a regional or French-speaking accent, transcription is very reliable. Slang and hesitations come through fine, because the model is trained on genuinely spoken language.
Where it degrades: heavy background noise, several people talking at once, or rare proper nouns. In those cases the summary stays usable, but for critical information like a date, a number or an address, it's better to have it confirmed in writing. That's true of any automatic transcription.
Our accessibility commitment
Abrège follows the principles of WCAG 2.1 level AA: sufficient contrast, keyboard navigation, resizable text, screen-reader-compatible content. Since the summary arrives like a normal WhatsApp message, it also benefits from all the phone's accessibility settings.
We don't display a formal conformance statement: no external audit has been carried out yet, and we'd rather not claim anything we couldn't prove. If you hit an obstacle on the site or in the service, write to us, it's handled as a priority.
Autonomy regained
« Léa is hard of hearing. Before Abrège, she had to either ask every contact to write instead of talk (awkward), or not reply to voice notes (frustrating), or ask a hearing relative to transcribe (dependence). Now she receives her voice notes like everyone else, forwards them to Abrège, and reads. No adaptation to ask of others. »
I have slight hearing loss, which means I don't like the phone or voice notes. I need good conditions to listen to them, like Bluetooth earphones that I don't always have on me when a message comes in. Abrège lets me take in the message very easily and quickly, even if I'm on transport or wherever, and make sure I've understood everything. I really find it great and so useful.
Stéphanie
Abrège user, slight hearing loss
Amnesiac by design.
We keep nothing.
The moment your summary goes out, the audio file is destroyed from our servers. Unrecoverable, no copy kept. We don't want your data, just to save you time.
One thing to be clear about: to be transcribed, the audio passes through OpenAI's API (Whisper). That's the only step where it leaves us. See the details .
Deleted immediately
The audio is erased right after the summary is sent.
Never in your groups
Abrège only sees the voice notes you forward it. Never your other chats.
Encrypted in transit
Everything travels over TLS 1.3, impossible to intercept on the way.
Thousands of hours handed back to real life.
The time our users no longer spend listening to rambling monologues. Added up, it starts to count.
Format acceptés :
Frequently asked questions
About WhatsApp transcription for the deaf and hard of hearing.
- WhatsApp already transcribes voice notes, why use Abrège?
- Because it depends on your phone and the length of the voice note. On iPhone, native transcription works in French and it's very good: everything happens on the device. On Android, though, it only handles English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian, so it's no help for a voice note in French. And even on iPhone, you get the word-for-word text: a four-minute voice note is still four minutes of reading. Abrège works on both systems, in French, and hands you a summary rather than a wall of text.
- Does it work if I'm completely deaf?
- Yes. Abrège never requires you to hear anything: you forward the voice note received, and you get text back, in the same WhatsApp conversation. No audio step, no call, no audio handling. You can also switch on full transcription if you want the complete text on top of the summary, so you miss nothing of the original message.
- My parent has an old phone, is it compatible?
- If the phone runs WhatsApp, then yes. Abrège isn't an app: it's a WhatsApp contact. There's nothing to install, nothing to update, and no space to free up on the device. That's exactly the point for older people or those uneasy with technology. And if the forward stays tricky for them, a relative can do it for them from their own phone.
- Is it reliable with accents and background noise?
- On normally spoken French, including a regional or French-speaking accent, accuracy is very good, slang and hesitations included. It degrades when there's a lot of background noise, several people talking at once, or rare proper nouns. In those cases the summary stays usable, but for critical information (a date, a number, an address), it's better to have it confirmed in writing.
- What happens to the audio file?
- It's transcribed via OpenAI's API (Whisper), then deleted from our servers as soon as the summary is sent to you, with no copy kept. That's the only step where the audio is handled outside our servers, and we'd rather say it plainly. Our servers are in Europe and exchanges are encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3). Abrège never joins groups and only sees the messages you forward it.
- Is there a reduced price for people with disabilities?
- Get in touch, we look at it case by case. Accessibility is one of the situations where we happily adapt the access terms.
Pricing
Free to try. 3€ to never go without.
Start free, step up whenever you need to.
Free
Perfect for putting the AI to the test on your first voice notes.
0€
- 5 free summaries / month
- Limited settings
Starter subscription
🎁 2 months free
⚡️ Price locked for life
- 50 summaries / month
- Full Dashboard access
- Full customisation
Need more? Plans for heavy users (up to 500 summaries / month) are available. See all plans →
Cancel in one click from your account.
FAQ
Questions? We've got answers.
- No, never. Abrège works like any regular WhatsApp contact: it only sees the messages you forward or send it directly. It has no access to your other conversations, your groups, or your address book. WhatsApp itself guarantees this: a third-party app cannot read chats it hasn't been invited to. When you forward a voice note, only that one file reaches Abrège, nothing else. And once the summary is sent back, the audio file is immediately deleted from our servers, with no copy kept. To be transparent: to be transcribed, that audio passes through OpenAI's API (Whisper), the only step where it is handled outside our servers. The rest of your messages stays strictly between you and the people you talk to. In short: Abrège can only read what you explicitly choose to show it, and nothing more.
- When you forward a voice note to Abrège, it goes through three quick steps. First transcription: the audio is turned into text through OpenAI's API (Whisper), today one of the most accurate models around. Then the summary: a language model pulls out the key points and the action to remember. Finally delivery: you get the result right in your chat, in a few seconds. On the data side, the principle is simple: as soon as the summary is sent to you, the original audio file is deleted from our servers, with no copy kept. The text transcription stays available in your dashboard for as long as your account exists, and you can delete it whenever you like. Our servers are hosted in Europe and everything is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3).
- Yes, rather well. Abrège relies on Whisper, OpenAI's transcription model, trained on a huge amount of real spoken language, not just textbook speech. In practice it handles regional and non-native accents very well. Everyday language comes through too: slang, casual expressions, hesitations (“er…”, “um…”), broken sentences or fast delivery. That's exactly the point of a genuine, recent AI model compared with basic word-for-word transcription. The limits: on very noisy audio, with several people talking at once, or very rare proper nouns, the transcription may make a few approximations. Even then, you still get your summary, and you can ask for the full text to check the details.
- It's commitment-free, and built to stay simple. You start free, with 5 summaries a month, no card required. After that, the subscription starts at 3€/month (launch offer, price locked for life as long as you stay subscribed), with 50 summaries a month included. Payment goes through Stripe, fully secure: card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. You can switch plans or cancel in a single click from your dashboard, with no need to explain yourself or write to a support desk. No fixed term, no sneaky renewal, no nasty surprise on your bill.
- Of course, and it's one of its handiest uses. Two ways to do it: either forward Abrège a voice note you received from someone else, or record a voice memo straight into your chat with it, just like you would with any contact. Either way, you get a clear summary back in seconds. Plenty of people use it to talk to themselves: dictate your ideas while walking, and get a written, structured note back. Great for prepping a report, clearing your head before a meeting, or turning a stray thought into a concrete task.
- That's up to you. By default, Abrège sends you a summary, because that's what saves time in most cases. But if you'd rather have everything, you can switch on the “Full transcription” option in your dashboard, in one click. Abrège will then send you the summary first (for speed), then the full text just below (to check a detail, a date or an exact quote). You get the best of both: the speed of a summary when a glance is enough, and the precision of a word-for-word transcription when you really need it. The setting can be changed at any time.
- On purpose, Abrège does not join groups, and that's a privacy choice. A bot sitting in a group could read everyone's messages, which we refuse on principle. So the flow stays simple: when someone drops a 3-minute voice note in the family or work group, you forward it privately to Abrège, you get the summary in seconds, and you come back to the group with the gist. Nobody else needs to install anything, and no message from the group passes through Abrège except the one you choose to send it. Handy, and respectful of everyone.
- Too long, didn't read: we save you time on WhatsApp. Stop scrolling and try the bot. Cheers. 🍿
Keep reading
Other ways people use Abrège
WhatsApp voice-note transcription: voice into text
Turn voice into text. Ideal for keeping a written record or reading your messages discreetly.
DiscoverBe discreet: read your voice notes.
Can't play the sound? Forward your voice note to Abrège and read the summary in total discretion.
DiscoverConvert a WhatsApp voice note to text
The essential tool for reading your messages when you can't (or won't) listen to them.
DiscoverMore on the blog
Our guides on the topic, in detail
WhatsApp for deaf and hard-of-hearing people: how to make voice notes accessible
WhatsApp is an essential communication tool, but voice notes can exclude deaf or hard-of-hearing people. Here are the solutions that genuinely change things in 2026.
Read the article · 6 minWhatsApp voice notes and accessibility: the invisible barrier for over a billion people
Voice messages have taken over WhatsApp. But for the many millions with hearing loss, they create a silent exclusion no one talks about. A closer look.
Read the article · 5 minAge-related hearing loss: how to help an older parent follow WhatsApp conversations
Age-related hearing loss slowly pulls our elders away from family conversations on WhatsApp. Here's how to help them stay in the loop, without patronising them.
Read the article · 5 minWho's behind Abrège
“I built Abrège because I'd had enough of 5-minute voice notes to say what fits in two sentences.”
It's a tool I use every day myself, and I build it to stay simple, honest and respectful of your privacy.
Mark Hadj Hamou
Founder of Abrège
Stop listening.
Start reading.
Made in France · GDPR · audio deleted after processing