Pixel 6’s Live Translate can translate messages and more in real time

The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are finally official, and so is the Google Tensor chipset at their heart. This new custom-designed chip from Google is meant to offer the best performance for AI, and Google is making sure we know about it. There are new exclusive features for the camera like Magic Eraser and computational video, but another big new feature for the Pixel 6 family is Live Translate.

Google’s translation services have always been some of the most popular, and now, the Pixel 6 can even translate your messages in real time. Indeed, when you type or speak out a message in one language, the Pixel 6 can translate that message into the recipient’s language automatically. This works in the Messages app, but also in multiple third-party apps including WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and more.

Based on the demo Google showed, the feature seems very similar to what Microsoft added to its SwiftKey keyboard app earlier this year. However, in this case, performance should be much better. Also, this works more easily with voice typing, which you can’t use directly in SwiftKey’s version.

Not only that, but Google is also enabling live audio translation and captioning from any source. You can watch YouTube videos be translated right there and then, as well as live Instagram videos, sports broadcasts from other countries, and anything else. If you want to watch content that’s originally in a different language, the Pixel 6 can translate it live and in real time.

Other new features include live translation in the Pixel camera app, which can translate signs, labels, and so on. Interpreter mode for Google Assistant is also faster on the Pixel 6 and it now supports 48 languages.

Overall, the Google Tensor chip also delivers improved performance for translation. Google says the new chipset improves the translation quality on Pixel devices by as much as 18%. Plus, its new model for translation uses less than half the power when running on the Tensor chip, making this a much more efficient process.

These translation features appear to be exclusive to the Pixel 6, and if you’re interested in them, you can preorder Google’s phones below. We also have a list of the best places to preorder the new Pixel phones if you’d rather look somewhere else.