Google recently announced that it’s in the process of rolling out new key updates to Google Translate, which brings some much-welcome features for users on both Android and iOS smartphones.
For one, Android users can now run live translations in the background, allowing them to lock their screens or use other apps without interrupting the audio. Google says that it implemented this change after finding that over a third of live translation sessions now exceed five minutes, and adds that it will bring over the same background support for iOS devices soon.
Image: Google
Speaking of iOS, users with iPhones can now listen to live translations directly through their device’s earpiece, a feature that was previously brought to Android devices. This allows users without headphones to simply hold the phone to their ear to hear translations clearly in loud environments, such as busy transit hubs or crowded tours.
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In other recent Google software news, the company is now integrating Google Photos directly into its new Spark AI, which allows AI to perform complex, multi-step tasks on the user’s behalf. For example, users can now use single conversational prompts to search, curate, and edit their media, like commanding Spark to locate specific vacation photos, remove background crowds, center the subjects, and even compile the results into a new album.