Google Has Rolled Out Interpreter Modes To Phones So You Can Communicate In Foreign Languages

Google has rolled out its Interpreter Mode to smartphones around the world. The tech giant announced this feature in early 2019, at CES. But it has since been available to users of smart display such as the Nest Hub.

But smartphone users can now use Interpreter Mode, and they can turn it on just by saying “Hey Google, be my Chinese interpreter,” or another language that you need at the time. The feature will support 44 languages at launch, which the company hopes to expand in the future.

Interpreter Mode can offer great help for those who travel a lot but can’t speak many languages. The feature is easy to use too as you can have the Assistant enable it for you.

Through your phone’s mic, the feature will perform real-time transcription of the foreign language used around you, then generate a written translation in the language you choose. In addition, the Assistant will give you bubbles of contextual text at the screen’s bottom based on the transcription, helping you respond more easily.

Next, you can let the Assistant do its job or you can say something in your language then Interpreter Mode will translate that into the other language, which allows you to have back and forth conversations in real-time. However, it will be harder for Google Assistant to translate when two or more people talk over one another, so try to have a pause between different speakers if you can.

One of the best things about this feature is the support for different variations of one language depending on your current region. By default, the feature will rely on your real-time location to decide which regional variant to use, but you can also specify the variant you want.

For now, you need an internet connection to be able to use Interpreter Mode; however, Google may work to make the feature functional offline through on-device smarts.