Google Translate Now Gets Real-Time Transcription Feature for Eight Languages

BY Mahit Huilgol

Published 17 Mar 2020

Earlier this year Google had shown off the new transcription feature. Now the live transcription feature is baked into Google Translate. The new Transcription feature can be used to translate the audio from one language to another in real-time.

The feature in itself is not exactly new. Existing apps already offer transcription feature, however, there is always a delay in transforming into text on your phone. Google is rolling out the new transcription features for all users by the end of the week. The list of supported languages includes English, French, German, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Thai. In other words, you can speak any of the languages and Google Translate will translate into your preferred language.

Google Translates new feature is expected to come in handy in many cases, It will work for live speeches, events or you can also input audio from a speaker and translate it into a language of your choice. However, Google says that the feature might not be suited for longer discussions like a class lecture.

The feature makes use of Tensor Processing Units on the cloud servers in order to produce a live transcription. Google Pixel phones already offer Live Transcribe feature and starting now Google Translate will use the same. In order to work, the transcription feature will require an internet connection to establish a link.

Currently, the transcription feature is available only on Android. However, Google is expected to offer the same on iOS in the near future. You can access transcription by tapping on the “transcribe option.” Meanwhile, you will also be able to pause, restart, change text size, and customize dark options by heading over to the Translate settings menu.

[via Google]