Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Live Translation Coming to AirPods
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
With the way Apple is doing stuff recently, they will release this either in US only once again, or working with like 4 languages only and after few years of adding no further support for more languages, this feature will be forgotten.
At least for Vietnamese, according to my wife, the Apple Translate app is generally a bit better than Google. Though they both tend to lean towards northern dialect over southern.
A lot, actually. I have to scroll forever in a podcast channel to find old episodes, the books app is clunky, my downloaded ebooks keep disappearing when I’m offline, folders are a hassle, and the homepage is just a store for books I don’t care about. I wish I could listen to my books on the go, mark them unread, and copy words without the book title auto-added. The UI is outdated, with those ugly titles, and I can’t customize the top menu like in other apps, where most items from the left menu, like Podcast and Books, can be moved there. And that’s just off the top of my head...
This could be fun, I’d imagine a fair few people say some crazy things about people if they think they cant understand. I did it myself in Holland in the 80s, at a pub I said something pretty complimentary about a lovely Dutch girl. She turned to me and responded in perfect English.
This is some most anticipated Star Trek technology, for us Generation X'ers... I hope it supports Klingon to boot.
An in-person Live Translation feature could soon be available on the AirPods, according to imagery found in iOS 26 beta 6.
There's a picture of the AirPods with Hello in several different languages, along with a suggestion that the feature will be activated with a double press. The file itself is named "Translate," which certainly seems to imply that there will be a gesture to activate a Live Translation option.
9to5Mac reported on the image first, but we can confirm that it is tucked away in the files for the Translate app in the latest beta.
Prior to the launch of iOS 26, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the AirPods would get a translate feature for translating in-person conversations, and it looks like Apple is working on introducing it soon. Live Translation for AirPods could come either in the launch version of iOS 26, or in an update to iOS 26.
iOS 26 already offers Live Translation for the Phone app, Messages app, and FaceTime, so an in-person option through the AirPods makes sense.
Based on the images, the feature will work on the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4. Existing Live Translation features are linked to Apple Intelligence, which means the AirPods feature could also require an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence.
Article Link: Live Translation Coming to AirPods
there is no supposing about it. Bonjour means hello whatever way you spin it. Literally it means good(bon) day(jour), practically it simply means hello.
Salut is more like hi. In France hello is best translated as bonjour.
From what I've read, one replies speaking in their airpods and it gets translated on their iphone. Don't know if it's in writting or Audible but my guess it's both.
Instead of overwhelming AirPods users with sluggish translations, which I wouldn’t trust due to the nuances involved, why not revert to the basics? For instance, a function that allows users to set a specific volume level in decibels instead of causing deafness every time they put their iPhone in their pocket. Just my two cents!
Yes! The universal translator from Star Trek is becoming a reality, and we've had the communicator for a while now (iPhone).
As I frequently travel to France, Spain and Italy for work and unfortunately don't speak these languages, this will be a great help to me!
As I frequently travel to France, Spain and Italy for work and unfortunately don't speak these languages, this will be a great help to me!
You hand them the other Airpod and toggle the language direction back and forth on your phone?
The AirPods help you to follow the conversation. It could be set up to cancel out the other speaker so all you’ll hear is the translation coming into the AirPods. It’ll probably also help to pick up your voice so your phone has an easier time keeping up with the translation. I don’t think you’ll need a set of AirPods, but it could make the natural flow of the conversation go smoother. Without it, you may have to move your phone back and forth like a microphone which could get kind of annoying.
It amuses me to see so many people here who clearly recognize that original reference.
But -- for those who don't know or have forgotten: the notion of the "babel fish" as a translator comes from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. A great must-read series... I think I'm going to have to add it to my list for another run through.
As to the AirPods... I've always preferred my wired Apple headphones, but this honestly might be the feature that finally makes me pull the trigger on a wireless pair.
Last edited: