# Voice notes your agent can read, search and quote > A two-minute voice note from the plumber, four from the parents group, one from your mother. Circles turns each into text, so your agent can answer "when is he coming?" without anyone pressing play. **Circles transcribes WhatsApp voice messages automatically, in Hebrew and English,** and hands the text to your agent inside each message, searchable across every chat you opened. It works the same whether your phone is Android or iPhone, because the transcription happens in Circles. Free for 2 chats, or Pro at $29 a month (₪99 in Israel) with 14 days free, as of October 2026. Source: https://usecircles.app/en/use-cases/voice-note-transcription · Updated 2026-10-27 ## Try asking - **"What did Yossi say in his voice note about the leak?"**: The agent quotes the transcript: day, time window, what to prepare. - **"Did anyone mention the dentist in a voice note this month?"**: Search covers what people typed and what they said. - **"Summarize the three long voice notes Mom sent today."**: Five minutes of audio, three lines of text. - **"Translate Dana's Hebrew voice note into English."**: Circles transcribes the note, and your agent translates it. - **"Read me just the voice notes from the parents group since Sunday."**: The agent can ask Circles for voice notes only. ## How it works 1. **A voice note arrives**: In any chat Circles keeps. Voice notes and audio files are picked up shortly after they arrive, newest first. 2. **Circles transcribes it**: Automatically, with Hebrew and English as the expected languages. The audio goes to a transcription service, and Circles asks for it to be deleted there right after. 3. **The text sits in the message**: Your agent reads the transcript with the message, without fetching the audio. Search finds it. If the transcript is still being made, the message says so. A voice note as your agent receives it (invented sender): ``` { "from": "Yossi", "at_iso": "2026-10-26T16:40:00.000Z", "body": "", "media": { "kind": "voice", "duration_seconds": 94, "transcript_state": "done", "transcript": "Hi, about the leak: I can come Thursday between nine and eleven. Bring the old tap if you still have it, and leave the water off under the sink." } } ``` ## Hebrew voice notes on Android WhatsApp has its own voice message transcripts, and they are useful. At launch in November 2024, Android transcripts covered English, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian, and Hebrew was on iPhone only; check WhatsApp's help for the current list. WhatsApp's transcripts are also for your eyes only, one note at a time, on your phone. Your agent cannot search them. Circles' transcripts are made in Circles, so they are the same on Android and iPhone, in Hebrew and English, and every agent you connect can search and quote them. ## Older voice notes When you link your number, WhatsApp syncs your history to Circles, often years of it. Voice notes from roughly the last 25 days are downloaded and transcribed right away. Older ones are only listed, because WhatsApp's servers no longer hold them. When your agent asks for one, Circles asks your phone to upload it again (your phone needs to be online, and it takes about half a minute). Once it arrives, it is transcribed on the next pass. So "what did Avi say in that voice note last spring?" works, it just takes a moment longer the first time. ## What Circles prepares, and what it does not - **Transcribed:** WhatsApp voice notes and audio files, in Hebrew and English, with the duration where WhatsApp gives it. - **Searchable:** the `search` tool matches words inside transcripts, in one chat or across all open chats. - **Filtered:** `catch_up` can return voice notes only, when that is all you want. - **Not transcribed:** video. Videos are kept and handed to the agent as files, up to 50 MB. ## Agents that do this best - **[Instinct](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/instinct)**: Ask "what did the plumber say?" in a WhatsApp message and get the answer in the same chat. - **[Claude](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/claude)**: Summarizes a week of long voice notes and can search them across chats. - **[ChatGPT](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/chatgpt)**: Reads Hebrew transcripts and answers in the language you ask in. ## Only the chats you open Circles transcribes voice notes in the chats it keeps, and agents see only the chats you open. A chat marked hidden does not exist for agents, transcripts included. A chat set to *never store* is not kept at all, so nothing in it is transcribed. Every request your agent makes is in your activity log. [How Circles handles your chats](https://usecircles.app/en/security). ## Questions and answers ### How do I transcribe WhatsApp voice messages on Android? At launch, WhatsApp's own Android transcripts covered a short list of languages without Hebrew; check WhatsApp's help for the current list. Circles transcribes voice notes in Circles itself, Hebrew and English, so the result is the same on Android and iPhone, and your agent can read it. ### Is there a WhatsApp MCP that transcribes voice notes? Yes. Circles transcribes voice notes and audio files automatically and serves the text inside each message over MCP, to Claude, ChatGPT, Instinct, Codex or any MCP client. ### Which languages does Circles transcribe? Hebrew and English. Circles does not promise other languages. ### Can my agent search what was said in voice notes? Yes. Circles' `search` tool matches words inside transcripts, in one chat or across every chat you opened. ### Are old voice notes transcribed too? Voice notes from about the last 25 days at linking, and everything after, are transcribed automatically. Older ones are fetched from your phone and transcribed when your agent asks for them. ### Does Circles keep the audio at the transcription service? Circles asks the service to delete the audio and transcript right after the job. The transcript is kept in Circles, with the message. ## Sources - WhatsApp's announcement of voice message transcripts: [WhatsApp blog](https://blog.whatsapp.com/introducing-voice-message-transcripts) - Launch languages on Android and iPhone, November 2024: [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/21/whatsapp-rolls-out-voice-message-transcripts) ## Keep reading - [Summarize groups](https://usecircles.app/en/use-cases/summarize-whatsapp-groups): Voice-heavy groups, summarized like any other. - [Parents and school groups](https://usecircles.app/en/use-cases/parents-and-school-groups): Where half the updates are voice notes. - [Instinct](https://usecircles.app/en/agents/instinct): Ask in a WhatsApp message. --- 14 days free. Link your number, pick the chats, then connect Instinct with one tap or Claude, ChatGPT and Codex with one address. Start: https://usecircles.app/start?lang=en