Google Translate Overview Updated September 10, 2021
Google Translate Stories September 10
Ahead of Android 12’s launch later this year, our team has discovered that Google Translate has a Material You revamp in the works, it’s first major redesign in over five years — here’s an early look.
Google Translate Stories August 6
Belarus Olympian used Google Translate to ask Japanese police for help before coerced flight
Last Saturday, Belarusian officials attempted to force sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to leave Tokyo. The athlete revealed yesterday that she used Google Translate to reach out to Japanese authorities and avoid the flight from the Olympics.
Google Translate Stories April 5
Google Translate reaches 1 billion Play Store downloads
For years, Google Translate has been one of the better ways to quickly exchange information between two languages. Over the weekend, the Google Translate app for Android reached a whopping 1 billion downloads on the Play Store.
Google Translate Stories November 19, 2020
Google Translate talks turkey with new Thanksgiving easter egg
Thanksgiving is just a week away in the United States, and to prepare, Google Translate has launched a new easter egg to help you “talk turkey.”
Google Translate Stories August 11, 2020
Google’s Gboard keyboard has been picking up a bunch of new features over the past several days, and now, it’s rolling out another. Real-time translation is coming to Gboard for voice dictation, and it’s rolling out now for Android users.
Google Translate Stories July 22, 2020
Google Translate for Android gets tweaked dark theme, widely rolling out
Back in February, some Google Translate users on Android received a dark theme. That look never widely rolled out, but a new, modified version is now available.
Google Translate Stories March 17, 2020
In January, Google previewed an “almost real-time translator” for long-form speech. Google Translate’s new Transcribe mode is now beginning to roll out on Android.
Google Translate Stories February 26, 2020
Google Translate may not always give a perfect translation between different tongues, but it’s still a tool millions of people rely on daily. Today, Google is announcing that Translate is adding five new languages, it’s first expansion in the past few years.
Google Translate Stories February 24, 2020
Google Translate to only save translation history when you’re signed in
With its Material Theme revamp, Google Translate on the web saw the built-in “History” feature get more prominent placement. An upcoming change will see translation history only appear and be saved when you’re signed in with your Google Account.
Google Translate Stories February 5, 2020
Google Translate is a very powerful tool, and a popular app on both Android devices and iOS, too. Now, it looks like Google is finally rolling out dark mode support for Google Translate on both platforms.
Google Translate Stories January 28, 2020
Back in September, we spotted work on a “Continuous Translation” feature in the Translate app on Android. Google today previewed its “almost real time translator” for long-form speech called “Transcribe.”
Google Translate Stories November 13, 2019
When traveling abroad, mapping and translation are likely your two most-used apps. Google is now integrating Maps and Translate “closer together” with a new translator feature that pronounces place names and addresses.
Google Translate Stories September 11, 2019
During the Android Q Betas, Google Translate’s “Tap to Translate” did not work. Following Android 10’s launch last week, a new version of the app fixes the feature and makes it more subtle. Meanwhile, version 6.2 hints at a continuously audio translation mode.
Google Translate Stories July 15, 2019
Android Q is poised to bring a vast swath of smaller quality-of-life changes to our phones. The latest change discovered in a leaked release of Android Q is that Google Translate is being directly integrated with the Recents view, via the Pixel Launcher.
Google Translate Stories July 10, 2019
The latest iteration of Google Lens announced at I/O 2019 features a convenient Translate filter. Google is now bringing that updated functionality to the full Google Translate app with a revamped UI, auto-detect, and more languages.
Google Translate Stories May 10, 2019
Durning the I/O 2019 keynote, Google Translate made an appearance in the new Lens interface, as well as in Google Go. The dedicated Translate app for Android is now working on “New camera translation” that benefits from several advancements.
Google Translate Stories May 1, 2019
Google Translate is often underappreciated, but it’s one of the most useful products the company offers. Its live camera translation is especially impressive, but in recent weeks, that functionality has been broken for many Google Translate users on Android with the error code “E-810.”
Google Translate Stories February 14, 2019
At CES 2019, Google announced interpreter mode for Google Home speakers and Smart Displays. The Assistant feature began rolling out earlier this month, and is now fully available for consumers as Google talks up the benefits for concierge and hotels.
Google Translate Stories February 2, 2019
Next to Search and YouTube, Google Translate is one of the company’s most well-known and genuinely useful tools. The service is the star of Google’s 2019 Super Bowl commercial, and aims to be heartfelt with a message of bringing people together.
Google Translate Stories January 9, 2019
Wikipedia integrates Google Translate into article translation tool for editors
Wikipedia is widely leveraged throughout Google products, including in Knowledge Panels used by Search, Assistant, and Home, as well as for fact checks in YouTube. Wikimedia is now integrating Google Translate with its built-in tool for editors to create articles in more languages.
Google Translate Stories December 6, 2018
Last month, Google Translate received the Google Material Theme on the web along with a responsive design. In line with other company-wide efforts to “promote fairness and reduce bias in machine learning,” Google Translate will now provide feminine and masculine translations for some gender-neutral words.
Google Translate Stories November 28, 2018
First spotted in October, Google Translate’s Google Material Theme is now widely rolling out on the web. Besides adopting Google’s new look for apps, the site also features a responsive design.
Google Translate Stories October 13, 2018
Over the past year, the number of Google Assistant headphones available have proliferated. This, unfortunately, is not due to the success of Pixel Buds, but rather various brands adding one-tap access to notifications and Google Search on Android. All these headphones now support the Pixel Buds real-time translation feature.
Google Translate Stories October 10, 2018
Google Translate adds support for 13 new Camera Translation languages
Back in June, Google Translate was able to run the more advanced Neural Machine Translations entirely offline on Android and iOS. Today, the app’s Camera Translation features is adding support for 13 additional languages.
Google Translate Stories October 4, 2018
Translation history, Material Theme for Google Translate rolling out on web
Since Google I/O earlier this year, dozens of the company’s products have been getting updated to the latest Material Design cues. Now, the latest addition to the list is rolling out with a Google Translate redesign on web, including the Google Material Theme and a new feature for the web client.
Google Translate Stories July 20, 2018
Back in 2016, Google Translate began leveraging Neural Machine Translation to drastically improve the quality of translations. Just last month, Google announced that NMT now works completely offline on mobile. The service is now seeing an odd occurrence where inputting gibberish outputs readable passages.
Google Translate Stories June 12, 2018
When Google Translate began using Neural Machine Translation in late 2016, the service improved “more in a single leap” than in the last ten years combined. That technology now works completely offline in 59 languages and is rolling out this month to Android and iOS.
Google Translate Stories March 6, 2018
Version 5.16 of Google Translate began rolling out earlier last month with only minor changes to settings. However, as part of a server-side update that occurred recently, the app has redesigned its primary translation controls with a focus on simplicity.
Google Translate Stories November 16, 2017
How to use Google Pixel Buds to translate foreign languages in real-time
While the Pixel Buds are primarily meant to be used as Bluetooth headphones, Google did include a feature that allows them to translate over 40 different languages in real-time. Here’s how to use it, just as long as it’s paired with a Pixel or Pixel 2…
Google Translate Stories October 31, 2017
On the Pixel and Pixel 2, Pixel Buds enable a futuristic real-time translation feature. As we near its November release, the latest version of Google Translate adds several strings describing how Pixel Buds will work, as well as more about an upcoming “Word of the Day” feature and new handwriting UI.
Google Translate Stories April 25, 2017
India is a big market for Google, with the company creating a number of new products specifically for the country. Today, Google released a number of Translate and language-focused updates for Chrome, Search, and more.
Google Translate Stories April 24, 2017
Google reviews are now automatically translated to your device’s default language
Google has announced today that reviews in Google Maps and Search will now be automatically translated to your device’s default language.
Google Translate Stories March 27, 2017
Google Translate received a minor update today to version 5.8, bringing easy-to-access definitions for translated words, a quick account switcher like that found in most of Google’s other first-party Android apps, some new strings referencing China, and (assumably) the usual bug fixes…
Google Translate Stories January 26, 2017
Google Translate Android app can now do live Word Lens translations from Japanese
Google Translates’s augmented reality feature, Word Lens, now works with Japanese. As with other supported languages, you simply point your smartphone camera at a Japanese sign, notice, menu or similar and it will instantly overlay the English text – even without a data connection.
Google Translate Stories December 13, 2016
You will soon be able to play a version of Final Fantasy IV translated entirely with Google Translate
Japan is a thriving country for RPGs (Role-Play Games), but most of them unfortunately remain unaccessible to a lot people due to the language barrier. However, some hardcore enthusiasts don’t give up, and this time one of them offered a rather creative solution…
Google Translate Stories November 16, 2016
Google Translate is ten years old and in that time, it’s grown quite a bit and gotten increasingly accurate. However, Google made a giant step in improving translations earlier this year through the use of machine learning. Now that project is expanding…
Google Translate Stories September 27, 2016
Google is increasingly adding machine learning to many of its core products. The latest to benefit is Translate with a new Google Neural Machine Translation (GNMT) system that reduces errors by 55% to 85%. The system is already in use 18 million times per day with the notoriously hard language pairing of Chinese to English.
Google Translate Stories May 11, 2016
Google Translate is getting a bevy of new features today that will make translating on mobile easier. Android gets a new feature that will get rid of the need to manually copy and paste into the Translate app, while iOS finally gets an offline mode. Additionally, the Word Lens instant visual translation feature now works on both Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
Google Translate Stories February 17, 2016
Google Translate adds 13 new languages bringing total to 103
Today’s addition of 13 new languages brings the total number of languages Google Translate understands to 103. The update allows 120 million more people around the world to use the service and will be rolling out over the next couple of days to the web and mobile apps.
Google Translate Stories December 16, 2015
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced that the company will be rolling out its recently-launched in-app Tap to Translate feature in India in the first quarter of 2016. The feature offers a simple way to translate text from within third-party apps like chat apps and Facebook.
Our most active users in India translate between Hindi and English multiple times a day, spending lots of time copying messages from friends or colleagues, translating them, writing responses, translating their responses, and then pasting them back into an app. With Tap to Translate you can copy text anywhere on your Android phone and instantly get the translation, right then and there — without ever leaving the app. No more copy/paste, no more app switching, just instant translations.
All devices that run Marshmallow will get access to the feature …
Google Translate Stories October 23, 2015
Following Google’s donation-matching program, which has so far raised more than $12M to fund humanitarian aid for refugees from Syria and other war zones, the company says that it is now providing technological assistance too.
In a blog post today, Google says that it has developed an open source project called the Crisis Info Hub to provide migrants with access to the immediate information they need on arrival in Greece in a lightweight, battery-saving way. The company says that it is also helping to beef-up mobile data connectivity locally … expand full story
Google Translate Stories October 6, 2015
Google today announced that it’s tapping into Google Translate to bring in-app translations to Android 6.0 Marshmallow users beginning this week. With the new feature, anyone running the latest version of Android that also has the Google Translate app downloaded will have the ability to translate text into 90 languages right from within supported apps. expand full story
Google Translate Stories August 20, 2015
Interactive watch faces aren’t the only goodie coming in Android Wear version 1.3, apparently. Google Translate is finally getting its own smartwatch app.
Google Translate Stories August 7, 2015
Microsoft Translator is a beautified Google Translate with Android Wear support
Real world, on-the-fly language translation has always been a little gimmicky if only because it still doesn’t quite hit the mark in terms of accuracy. Human spoken languages are a lot different from computer code in that words can have many meanings based on the context of the other words surrounding them. But that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from releasing its own translation app for Android called Microsoft Translator.
As you can see from the images above, the app is pretty simple. You speak or type in some words you want to translate, then choose the language you want to translate them into. You can save the translated result for later by pinning it, and then come back to it when you really need it — say, if you’re hitting a vacation town for the evening and need some common phrases to help you get around.
Unlike Google Translate, Microsoft Translator has a companion app for Android Wear so you don’t have to pull out your phone to make a new translation or access your pinned translations. Google Now can do some short translations, but nothing very long from my experience. Where Google Translate may lack, however, it makes up in a conversation mode which requires less tapping of the microphone to translate the voices of two people having a conversation — something Microsoft’s solution does not do.
Microsoft Translator, the underlying translation technology powering the app, supports just over 50 languages (yes, including Klingon), and Microsoft periodically adds new languages. The company says that the most important data its translation tools need to accurately translate languages on-the-fly is a lot of existing translations — 1 million translations of the same text into two languages, approximately.
Clearly, though, the new Wear app in particular is an experiment for Microsoft. From their blog post on the launch:
Wearables are a fascinating place to understand user experiences for translation. No other type of device allows people to interact with so little physical intrusion from the device itself— PC’s, tablets, and even phones can be occasionally awkward and unnatural in the middle of a conversation. With these smart devices, we want to learn how people use the apps and how effective the translation experiences can be. By integrating translation capabilities into devices that are instantly on hand (pun intended), we hope to continue to break down the last barrier in human communication— language.
Google Translate Stories July 29, 2015
Google Translate app instant visual translation adds 20 languages
If you travel internationally, you’re well aware that Google Translate’s visual translation features — which originated as the Word Lens app — are invaluable. Today, Google announced that the app has added support for 20 new languages, bringing the total up to 27.
Today, we’re updating the Google Translate app again—expanding instant visual translation to 20 more languages (for a total of 27!), and making real-time voice translations a lot faster and smoother—so even more people can experience the world in their language.
The app originally supported English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
As of today, you can now translate to and from Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian. You can also do one-way translations from English to Hindi and Thai.
Google Translate Stories July 16, 2015
Google is launching a new version of Google Patents today, its web app that lets anyone search for references in patents to better assess if their own invention or patent application is already covered by another. expand full story
Google Translate Stories June 25, 2015
Google Translate will slow down its text-to-speech on second listen
Noticed by a tipster speaking to the (unofficial) Chrome Operating System blog, Google Translate, the multilingual translation tool, has a neat way of converting text translations to speech.
Translate’s text-to-speech function can be used on both the original text and the translated version of the inputted text, which can be helpful when you’re not quite sure how to pronounce a phrase out loud. But maybe you’re trying to get the pronunciation exactly as its spoken by the text-to-speech and you’re having trouble hearing it clearly. I know I’ve experienced that before. Interestingly, the team behind the product seems to have recognized this frustration and programmed the function to slow down its enunciation when you click “Listen” a second time for the same text. Clicking it a third time consecutively will enunciate at the original speed, however.
This seems like something that would be cool to be able to explicitly toggle on and off, rather than simply alternating like it does now. A nice detail nonetheless, however.
Google Translate Stories January 14, 2015
Google has announced that it will shortly be rolling out a new version of its Google Translate Android app, with two significant enhancements.
First, it is replacing the existing camera-based text translation with the far slicker Word Lens system. Google acquired Word Lens back in May of last year with this upgrade in mind. If you haven’t ever tried it, this was the app that brought home to me the truth of the Arthur C Clarke saying that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
The near-instant augmented reality translation of signs and menus from any one of French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish–without needing an Internet connection–still makes me boggle every time I use it …
