Gemini Live Translate for headphones is a conversation changer – now on iPhone and in the UK
Google Translate has a headphone mode that offers real-time translation of conversations to any headphones.
Google has announced its Gemini Live Translate via headphones feature is no longer Android-exclusive, meaning iPhone users can now enter the multi-lingual chat. The Translate app’s latest AI-powered feature, which in theory enables two people to converse in real time in separate languages and hear the chat rapidly translated into their native tongue via a pair of earbuds, is also coming to new countries including the UK.
While the feature had, until today, only been available for Android users in the US, India and Mexico, it’s now available on both of the dominant smartphone platforms and in way more countries.
They are the aforementioned, plus Germany, Spain, France, Nigeria, Italy, the United Kingdom, Japan, Bangladesh, and Thailand. That’s quite a significant expansion. Overall, it can be used with 70+ languages, with Google promising Live Translate will help you “instantly understand and connect with the world right through any pair of headphones.”
The product manager for Google Translate Sasha Kapur says that chatting with their aunts and uncles in Punjabi “used to feel a bit like watching a movie without the subtitles. With Live translate, I can keep up with the conversation and jokes in real-time.” They remark that the feature “preserves the original speaker’s tone and cadence.” They add: “I’m not just getting the exact words, but also the vibe of the city and the people who make it special.”
Google originally brought this feature out in beta in December last year, so there has been rapid progress to enable the company to get this into the hands of potentially hundreds of millions more consumers.
The company said at the time: “Whether you’re trying to have a conversation in a different language, listen to a speech or lecture while abroad, or watch a TV show or film in another language, you can now put in your headphones, open the Translate app, tap “Live translate” and hear a real-time translation in your preferred language.”
Chris Smith
