Apple is working on bringing a live language translation feature to its AirPods earphones, as part of the potentially epochal iOS 19 update, which is due to be previewed early this summer.
According to a Bloomberg report, the new feature will leverage the iPhone’s Translate app and integrate it within the AirPods experience to help with in-person conversations.
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So, the report says, if a Spanish speaker is communicating with an English speaker wearing AirPods, the microphones will pick up the Spanish, quickly translate it to English and recite it back via the AirPods.
When the English speaker responds in their native tongue the opposite will happen, only the Spanish speaker will hear the response via a companion iPhone speaker, the report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says.
The report also says Apple is working on improvements to the Translate app in iOS 19 that’ll make this feature possible. While only the in-person conversations are emphasised by Gurman’s report, it’s possible live translation of phone calls would be possible too, further lowering the language barrier.
We’d imagine this feature will be assigned to the best AirPods, which are currently the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Max. However, it’s also possible Apple will enable the feature up to all run on all models, especially given its seemingly going to leverage the iPhone app rather than anything hardware specific to the best wireless buds.
Samsung also offers the similar feature within the Galaxy Buds 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. This feature for the Interpreter app is Galaxy AI-powered. Perhaps Apple will leverage Apple Intelligence as part of the reported changes to the Translate app in iOS 19?
Explaining the feature, which also works for real-time translation during phone calls, Samsung says: “The Galaxy Buds3 and Galaxy Buds3 Pro will help you understand real-time conversations in different languages thanks to Galaxy AI! With the Interpreter app, you can listen to continuous in-person conversations or lectures and receive a quick translation through your buds. Plus, Interpreter will provide a text transcript to accompany the translation.”
iOS 19 shaping up nicely
It has been a big week for iOS 19 news following reports the company is planning a dramatic update that will reimagine “style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system buttons” but will also go “well beyond a new design language and aesthetic tweaks.” We’re greatly looking forward to seeing what Apple reveals at WWDC in June.
