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Google is getting Translate ready to be the killer app for smart glasses
November 18, 2025
- Android Authority has discovered that Google is working on several changes to Live Translate in the Translate app.
- You could soon be able to control audio playback individually by language.
- The Translate app may gain a persistent notification, allowing you to continue using Live Translate even if you switch to a different app.
- Google also appears to be prepping for Live Translate on XR glasses.
In August, Google rolled out an update to the Translate app that introduced Live Translation. Powered by Gemini, this feature allows you to have a real-time back-and-forth conversation with others in a different language. Not only are your words converted into another language on screen, but you can also turn on audio playback to hear the translation spoken out loud. In our APK teardown of the Google Translate app, we discovered that several interesting changes are likely to be introduced to this Live Translate feature.
If you open the Google Translate app and tap on Live Translate, you’ll be taken to a page where you can start your conversation. At the bottom of this page, you’ll find the two languages you want to translate, an audio playback button, and a Start button to begin recording. For audio playback, you currently only have the option to turn it on or off. Soon, you may be able to control playback individually by language.
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While investigating version 9.26.46.833192481.11-release of the Translate app, we found that the audio playback button gained a drop-down arrow. Tapping on this drop-down arrow opens a new bottom sheet that contains three audio control options for each language. There’s a mute button, a speaker button, and a headphones button. As you would expect, the mute button silences the audio, the speaker button plays the audio through the phone’s speakers, and the headphones button outputs the audio through your headphones.
Additionally, it appears a fourth option will eventually be added. Google has been working on Android XR smart glasses for a while, and the company has even repeatedly teased the device just this year. There are also plenty of other smart glasses entering the market at the moment. Google appears to be prepping for this new form factor by adding a “Glasses” option to the device picker, which you can see in the strings of code below:
<string name="device_picker_device_name_glasses">Glasses</string>
<string name="device_picker_device_name_headphones">Headphones</string>
<string name="device_picker_device_name_off">Off</string>
<string name="device_picker_device_name_this_device">This device</string>The final change we spotted provides a solution to one of Live Translate’s limitations. Currently, Live Translate only works when you’re in the Google Translate app. That means if you switch to another app for whatever reason, Live Translate will stop working. Google appears to be working on a persistent notification — similar to how Gemini Live shows a notification when you switch to another app — to solve this problem:
<string name="open_mic_notification_action_resume">Resume</string>
<string name="open_mic_notification_channel_description">Notifications related to speech translation</string>
<string name="open_mic_notification_channel_title">Speech translation</string> <string name="open_mic_notification_text_active">Speech translation is ongoing</string>
<string name="open_mic_notification_text_paused">Speech translation is paused</string>
<string name="open_mic_notification_title">Translating speech in the background</string>With this change, Live Translate will be able to continue translating speech in the background as you look at different apps. You’ll also be able to pause or resume Live Translate directly from this notification, without needing to return to the Translate app.
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