Google updates Translate app with Gemini-powered Live Translate features

Google has introduced significant upgrades to the Live Translate feature within its Google Translate app, utilizing Gemini-powered speech intelligence to enhance real-time, two-way conversational audio. The update supports over 70 languages and aims to improve accuracy by recognizing accents, intonation, and conversational pauses, while also isolating background noise in loud environments like airports.

Two major functional improvements were announced. For Android users, Live Translate can now operate in the background, allowing users to multitask or lock their screens without interrupting a translation session. For iOS users, the update enables earpiece listening, allowing them to hear translations directly through the phone’s built-in earpiece by holding the device to their ear, which is useful in noisy settings when headphones are unavailable. Background mode functionality is expected to arrive on iOS in a future update.