Google Translate helps you instantly translate you text on the web without any hassle, but the Android and iOS apps have now been updated with new features to make translation more easy. The same has been done with the allowance of using the apps with third-party apps.
The Android application has been updated to include a ‘Tap to Translate’ feature, which lets you copy-paste text from any application and then a Google Translate bubble pops up. Tapping on the translate bubble will help you paste the copied text and show the translation right there.
The key addition in this update is, that you wouldn’t be required to switch between apps to get the required translation, just copy-paste and get the translation done. This feature is available for all 103 languages that the Google Translate engine offers.
In addition to the enhancements made to the Android application, the iOS app now supports Offline Mode. The offline mode was first introduced in the Android app in 2013. Using Offline mode, you can download small offline language packages that will help you translate text and images on-the-go. Google realized that the language packages were too big for the users to download, and caused problems due to insufficient phone storage or unreliable data connections, in developing countries like India, Indonesia and Brazil. To curb this problem, the language packages have now been shrinked by more than 90 per cent to just about 25MB.
Barak Turovsky, the Product Lead of Google Translate says that its very easy to download and install language packs(including Filipino, introduced today) on the iOS app. Just follow the following steps:
Just tap the arrow next to the language name to download the package for that language, and then you’ll be ready to do text translations whether you’re online or not—and it works with Tap to Translate too.
The Word Flow app that helps users translate printed signs and images has also bagged a minor update, as it now includes translation in Chinese. This is the 29th language that has been added for instant visual translation.
The ‘Tap to Translate’ is very thought-out feature and resembles the chat bubbles on Facebook Messenger. It’s the need of the hour to offer productivity at just the tap of the button and Google certainly has nailed it. We’d like to see the ‘Tap to Translate’ feature come to iOS soon.
Watch this informative video to better understand how ‘Tap to Translate’ works:
