What you need to know
- Google announced that it’s rolling out the Translate app’s Live Translate for headphones to iOS users in the U.S.
- Live Translate for headphones lets users listen in to real-time translation in different languages, useful when visiting other countries or meeting with family.
- This update includes Android phones; however, this is more for an expansion to several more overseas countries.
Google Translate has been picking up several impactful updates in recent months, and now one of those major features is expanding.
Google announced today (Mar 26) that it’s starting to roll out the Translate app’s “Live Translate with headphones” feature to U.S. Apple iPhones. The company gives the example of meeting with family members who primarily speak another language (like Punjabi or Spanish). Live Translate with headphones lets you understand what’s being said “in real-time” without missing a beat.
Once this arrives for iOS devices, Google says users need only open the Translate app, tap “live translate,” and connect their desired headphones. This first arrived for Android, which is where this update this week heads next. Live Translate for headphones is expanding on Android, alongside iOS devices, to France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Thailand, and the U.K.
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Google highlights the feature’s ability to translate over 70 languages. There are a few “modes” users will find, too. “Listening” will translate what you hear in real-time into English. For “Conversation,” Google says the user will hear their translation in English through their headphones; however, “others will hear translations out loud.” “Text-only” is rather straightforward. Any translations the app can make will be presented on your device for your viewing pleasure only.
AI made the app more useful
Since Google has shared details of Live Translate’s expansion, we should take a walk back to December, when its major update debuted. It probably goes without saying that Gemini thoroughly powers Live Translate’s capabilities. This is a product courtesy of the AI’s speech-to-speech software. During the original update, Google said Gemini’s work will attempt to preserve the “tone, emphasis, and cadence of each speaker to create more natural translations.”
What joined this feature was a few refinements to help the app better translate and understand slang and local expressions. Another debut concerned “streaks” to the practice mode, meaning users could take on more challenges and see themselves progress in a way that might feel meaningful.
Android Central’s Take
This feature is where I like see AI shine. It gives me sci-fi vibes, where the people in this fictional world travel, but can always “understand” the people they’re around. It’s smashing barriers, right? I can travel to another country, like Japan, and have a little more confidence that I can understand what’s being said. I think my love for amine will only get me so far, and that knowing how to say “good morning” or “thank you” just isn’t enough.
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