You can use Google Live Translate offline

Google Translate has become much more useful for travelers, especially if you’re heading somewhere where you can’t count on reliable cell service. That’s because Google finally added offline support to Live Translate. This means you can now take advantage of the app to translate live conversations even when your phone is not connected to the internet. Until now, Live Translate required a data connection, although Google Translate has supported downloading languages ​​for more basic offline translation for years.

Unfortunately, there is a big problem. According to Google’s updated support page, Live Translate Offline is currently only available on Pixel 9, Pixel 10, and Pixel 11 devices. This means that older Pixels, Samsung Galaxy phones, and other Android devices won’t get this feature, at least for now. Android Authority first spotted Google working on the feature earlier this year, and the version currently rolling out appears to support even more languages ​​than these early tests suggested.

Google also recently expanded Live Translate so that Android users can maintain a translation session in the background even when they switch apps or lock their phone. Live Translate also works with or without a headset, and Google says that more than a third of live translation sessions now last more than five minutes. Adding offline support will undoubtedly make the feature even more useful in places where translation may be most important. Crowded places like airports and trains can have spotty service, so it’s not always easy to stay connected to the internet in these situations. Offline support should help alleviate this problem, however.

Offline Live Translation is only available for Pixel 9, Pixel 10, and Pixel 11 users. For now, if you’re using a Pixel 8 or earlier, you won’t benefit from the new offline mode. Even though the standard Live Translate feature is available on Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola and other Android devices, offline mode will not be available on them.

Google Translate itself has offered offline translation for some time now, and users can already download language packs and translate text without an Internet connection. The company has also expanded this list of offline languages ​​by adding 33 more languages ​​in 2023. However, doing all of this over-the-air requires significant horsepower, and that likely means taking full advantage of the new power of AI in the latest Pixel devices.

Google hasn’t explained why the feature is starting with the Pixel 9 series rather than expanding to older phones, as those older devices have offered support for other AI features in the past. However, Pixel 10 and newer phones can run Google’s Live Translate feature for phone calls without an internet connection, so there’s probably some sort of performance and power element at play here. For Pixel owners who travel regularly, translating offline conversations is another reason why you may want to opt for a newer Pixel device rather than another brand if you’re upgrading soon.

It is also important to note that the offline version of Live Translate is much more limited than the online version when it comes to languages. Google’s standard Live Translate mode supports more than 70 languages, but offline conversations currently only work when translating from English to 10 other languages: Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Hindi, Russian, Swedish, Japanese, and Indonesian. You cannot use offline mode to directly translate from Spanish to French.

To set up offline mode, go to Google Translate > Live Translate and choose a supported language from the language switcher. Languages ​​that support both offline live translation and normal offline text translation are marked Live & Text. You can tap the download icon to save the language pack you want. You can already use Live Translate on your Android phone with any wireless earbud, and you can now keep a Live Translate session running even with your screen locked.