Google Translate now lets you hear real-time translations in your headphones

Google is introducing a beta experience that will let you hear real-time translations through your headphones, the company says announced on Friday. The tech giant is also bringing advanced Gemini capabilities to Google Translate and expanding its language learning tools in the Translate app.

The new real-time headphone translation experience keeps the tone, emphasis and cadence of each speaker intact, making it easier to follow the conversation and see who’s saying what, Google says. The new capability essentially turns any headset into a real-time, one-way translation device.

“Whether you’re trying to have a conversation in another language, listen to a speech or lecture abroad, or watch a TV show or movie in another language, you can now put on your headphones, open the Translate app, tap ‘Live Translate’ and hear a real-time translation in your preferred language,” said Rose Yao, Google VP Product Management, Search Verticals, in the blog post.

The beta is now rolling out in the Translate app on Android in the US, Mexico and India. The feature works with any headphones and supports more than 70 languages.

The company plans to bring this capability to iOS and more countries in 2026.

As for Translate’s advanced Gemini capabilities, Google says they will enable smarter, more natural, and more accurate text translations. They also enable improved translations of sentences with more nuanced meanings, such as slang, idioms or local expressions.

For example, if you try to translate an English idiom like “stealing my thunder,” you will now get a more accurate translation instead of a literal word-for-word translation because Gemini will parse the context to capture what the idiom actually means.

This update is now rolling out in the US and India and will be translated between English and nearly twenty languages, including Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and German. The update is available in the Translate app on Android, iOS and on the web.

Google is also expanding its language learning tools to nearly two dozen new countries, including Germany, India, Sweden and Taiwan. English speakers can now practice German, while Bengali, Mandarin Chinese (simplified), Dutch, German, Hindi, Italian, Romanian and Swedish can practice English.

The tech giant is also adding improved feedback, so you can get helpful tips based on your speaking practice.

In addition, Google is adding a feature that tracks how many days in a row you’ve learned, making it easier to see your progress and stay consistent. While the tools were already designed to handle Duolingo, this new feature brings the experience even closer to the popular language learning app.