Mobile translation apps have improved substantially in recent years—with a little help on speech recognition from AI. Most apps can now keep up with real-time conversations, if your phone has a strong enough internet connection (so the audio can be processed and converted in the cloud).
It means if you’re trying to hold a conversation with someone in a language you don’t know, you no longer need to spend time typing out words and phrases, or trying to figure out spellings and pronunciations. Instead, simply place your phone between you and the other person, and start chatting.
There are several apps that can do this for you, but here we’ll focus on the free translation apps on your Pixel phone, Galaxy phone, or iPhone. You can use Google Translate for Android and iOS as well, and Apple Translate for iOS.
Google Translate
Open up the Google Translate app, and you’ll be met with the standard text entry box—you can either type something to be translated here, or tap the microphone icon and speak it out instead. There will also be two languages displayed on screen, the language you’re translating from, and the language you’re translating to. Tap on either of these languages if you need to change them.
To get to the real time translation mode, tap Conversation. You’ll then get two microphone buttons on screen: When you’re ready to speak, tap the first button on the left, and say what you need to say. A translation will appear, and you can tap the speaker icon next to it to have the words read out by the app. Your conversation partner then taps the second microphone on the right, and repeats the process.
There are a couple of ways you can speed this up. The first is to tap the small star icon between the languages, which gives you just one mic button that you and the other person share (on iOS, this is already available as a third mic button in the center). The second is to tap the cog icon (top right) in the Android app, then enable Auto playback: This means translations are read out instantly, without an extra button press (oddly enough this is the default and only mode you’ve got on iOS).
There’s an extra bonus on Android: Tap the icon showing two rectangles, in the top right corner, and the view shifts to show one language panel upside down on top of the other, so you can have the phone between you and the other person and both see what’s being said. Note that while you can download languages for offline use, on both Android and iOS, this doesn’t apply to the conversation mode.
Apple Translate
When it comes to iPhones, you can use Google Translate as above, or you can opt for Apple’s own Translate app—which might be more convenient, as it’s already on your phone. The opening screen shows a translate interface for text and voice entry, and you can tap the languages shown if you need to change them.
For real time chat in two languages, tap the Conversation button on the toolbar at the bottom, then tap the microphone button to start talking. Once the app senses you’ve finished what you were saying, it shows a translation on screen: Tap the play button next to it to have it read out.
You can then progress through the conversation using the two languages you’ve selected, though you do have to press the microphone button each time someone speaks. You can save yourself an extra tap for the spoken translations by tapping the three dots (top right), then enabling Play Translations.
Tap the View button (top left), and you can pick from Side by Side (you and the other person are sitting next to each other), and Face to Face (you’re sitting opposite each other)—the interface will change accordingly. Unlike Google Translate, you can use conversation mode in Apple Translate offline, if the relevant languages are downloaded: Tap the three dots (top right), then Download Languages to do this.
iTranslate
Of the third-party apps that are available, iTranslate is just about the best we’ve come across, and it’s available on Android and iOS. Many of the app’s features can be used for free, but you need to pay the premium subscription fee to use the voice conversation mode—a rather hefty $8 a week or a more reasonable $100 for a whole year. If you’re not sure, you can test it for free for a week.
As with the other apps, it’s best to get your chosen languages sorted first, using the buttons near the center on the opening screen (they’ll be labeled with whatever languages are currently set). Then, when you’re ready to chat, tap the Voice button on the bottom toolbar, and the screen is split into two sections for the two languages.
To start translating, tap on one of the microphone buttons: Say what you’ve got to say, the app will work out the translation, and then it’ll be played through your phone’s speakers with no more effort required. When the other person is ready to speak, you simply tap the corresponding microphone button and repeat the process.
Helpfully, iTranslate offers an offline mode, which is enabled by tapping the airplane icon up at the top of the screen—if you don’t already have the necessary language files downloaded, you’ll be prompted to save them to your phone. With that done, you can use the voice mode without an internet connection.
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