Google brings Gemini live translation to any headphones

Google just made whatever pair of headphones you own a bit more useful.

As part of a broader expansion of Google Translate, the company is rolling out a beta for live language translation using headphones, Google announced in a blog post. Google says the feature supports more than 70 languages and, most importantly, works with "any pair of headphones," presumably provided that they have a microphone on them in some capacity.

"We’re bringing Gemini’s most powerful translation capabilities to Google Translate for text, launching a beta experience for live speech-to-speech translations with headphones, and adding new languages to the app for practice and skill building," the blog post reads.

And according to Google VP of product and search Rose Yao, Gemini doesn't just translate each word you hear; it provides meaningful translation to capture the meaning and intent of the speaker.

"Say you’re trying to translate an English idiom like 'stealing my thunder.' Now, it's easier than ever to get a more natural, accurate translation, instead of a literal word-for-word translation. Gemini parses the context to give you a helpful translation that captures what the idiom really means," Yao wrote in a blog post.

You can try the new live translation feature by opening the Google Translate mobile app with your headphones paired and tapping the "Live translate" button.

Apple got a lot of press when it introduced live translation with AirPods at the September iPhone event, and previously, this Google Translate feature was only available for users with Pixel Buds, the company's wireless earbuds. Now that Android users can use live translation on their preferred headphones or buds, Google has taken a big step closer to universal live translation.

But, as I said, this is a beta, so it's not fully cooked yet. As such, it's only available in the U.S., Mexico, and India right now, and crucially, only Android users have access at the moment. Google says the feature will come to iOS in 2026, but for now, iPhone users are stuck with Apple's more limited live translation.

Large-language models like ChatGPT and Gemini often excel at language translation, and live translation is one of the more promising use cases for the technology.