How to Use Live Translate on Your Pixel
Now there are useful language translation features everywhere you look, whether they’re built into your web browser or accessible through your chosen AI assistant . If you have the latest Google Pixel phone (Pixel 6 or later), you also have access to a set of features known as Live Translate that work across calls, text messages, and media.
This feature works separately from Google Translate and is actually built right into Android on Pixel devices. This means you can understand the conversations you have or videos you watch in a foreign language without any additional apps, and it’s easy to set up and use.
Live Translate is also fast, using the processing power of Google’s Tensor chips (which is why you need a Pixel phone to use these features). Similar features have arrived on other Android phones: If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, you can use Galaxy AI for live streaming .
Please note that at the time of writing, only a limited number of languages are supported when it comes to native local transformations without sending any data to the cloud for processing. For example, for audio translations, you only have access to French, German, Italian, Spanish and Japanese.
Setting up Live Translate
Live Translate should be enabled by default on your Android phone. You can check this and customize the features by opening Settings, then tapping System and Live Translation . There’s a toggle switch to turn Live Translate on or off, as well as a toggle switch to limit languages to download only while you’re connected to Wi-Fi.
Part of what makes Live Translate so easy to use is that it automatically detects the languages you encounter when using your phone and prompts you to download the necessary data files. Unlike Google Translate, languages must be downloaded locally for this feature to work.
If for some reason the language does not load automatically or you want to make sure it is prepared in advance, click Add Language and make your selection. From this Live Translate settings screen, you can access downloaded languages: use the toggle switches to turn them on and off, or tap a language and then select Remove Language to remove it.
Using Live Translate for messages
One of the apps that Live Translate will work with is Google Messages. If the app detects that someone is messaging you in a different language, you should see a pop-up asking you to use Live Translate. If it doesn’t appear, try long-pressing the message and then selecting the copy button at the top (two rectangles) – you should then see a prompt to enable translation.
If Live Translate is enabled, incoming messages will appear in English (if that’s your default language) – just as if you were communicating with a native English speaker. You will also be asked to translate your English texts into any relevant language before submitting them so that you can be understood.
When Live Translate is running, you’ll get a permanent toolbar at the top of the chat, and you can tap it to get more options, including the ability to translate all messages in a conversation. If you want to permanently disable this feature for chat, select “Don’t translate.”
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Using Live Translate for Audio
You can also make Live Translate work with any audio: phone calls, video conversations, podcasts, etc. This overlaps with Android’s Live Captions feature , which you can configure separately—the difference is that Pixel Tensor chips can quickly translate on your device without the need for the cloud.
When you’re on a call or listening to audio, tap any of the volume buttons to display a volume slider on the screen, then tap the three dots below it. You should then see a Live Caption button that you can click. Once the captions appear on the screen and a foreign language is detected, you will be prompted to translate the text into English (or your device’s default language).
For more options, tap the text on the screen – here you can force translation to English if it doesn’t happen automatically, or turn translations off again. You’ll also see an icon that looks like an artist’s palette, and if you click on it, you can customize the appearance of the captions in terms of size and color.
Other uses of Live Translate
You can also use Live Translate through the camera, although it’s not much different from using Google Lens on any Android device: the only benefit of Live Translate is local processing, which can come in handy if you’re abroad and have limited access to cellular networks or Wi-Fi.
Tap the Google Lens button in the Google search bar on the Pixel’s home screen—it looks like a colorful camera—and then point the camera at something like a sign or menu written in a foreign language. If you then switch to on-screen translation mode, the text should be translated almost instantly on your phone’s display.
Additionally, Google has previously touted a Translator mode that translates live conversations in real time. However, this originally worked through Google Assistant, and with the current transition to Google Gemini, it now appears to be disabled (at least it doesn’t work for me). Instead, you can use the conversation mode built into Google Translate: just tap “Talk” inside the app.