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Google Meet's universal translator looks like it's getting ready to go mobile
- Google Meet supports real-time speech translation for select languages, but only on computers.
- Now the Meet Android app shows what could be early evidence for adding the same kind of speech translation.
- It’s not yet clear if this would be limited to certain devices, or if an AI subscription would still be required.
Little by little, our favorite Star Trek technology is becoming a reality. Modern tablets are already fancier than any PADD, and while warp travel may still be a long way off, the universal translator feels like it may be the next one we’re finally able to really nail. Translation apps already work great, but what about seamless real-time translation, letting us hear foreign speakers in our native language?
Last year at I/O, Google shared its plans for doing just that in Meet. And while it’s since rolled out to users on Google’s paid AI subscriptions, access has so far been limited to computers only, with no mobile support. But now we’ve spotted what could be our first sign of Google expanding this feature to Android handsets.
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We’re looking at version 344.0.861071534.public_beta.duo.android_20260126.01_p0 of Meet for Android. While this isn’t yet visible in the app today, we’ve been able to trigger code that causes a new settings option to appear:
Right now, this is all we have to go on — we haven’t been able to get it to actually do anything in the app. But seeing an option for speech translation appear like this sure suggests to us that Google’s looking into what it would take to get this working on mobile.
Already, we’ve got the Pixel 10’s Voice Translate tool, pulling off basically this same trick with regular phone calls. Assuming we’re on the right track about Google’s plans for Meet, would we also be dealing with some kind of device exclusivity? While we haven’t yet uncovered any evidence in Meet that points to a Pixel 10 restriction like that, we also wouldn’t be surprised if things end up turning in that direction. Even if they don’t, we’ve still got the PC version of this feature being paywalled for the moment behind Google’s business and paid AI plans — would that carry over to mobile?
Clearly, we still have some big blanks to fill in about Google’s intentions here — but even with just this early tease, there’s reason to be excited. Translation tools are on the cusp of something big right now, and language barriers as we know them may soon become a distant memory.
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