In a world where video conferencing apps have become household names and AI translation is available at the push of a button, it's strange to realize that the two still haven't been joined at the hip. Not everywhere, and not for everyone, at the very least.
Well, Google has confirmed it will be expanding the real-time translation tools on Google Meet. Up until now, this feature has been limited to desktop machines and limited groups of business users. But now the new expansion will see it come to Android and iOS devices "in the coming months", as well as even more desktop users.
The downside? Translation is still going to come with some serious restrictions. For starters, it's still limited to select business and education users, alongside people with valid Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions. The latter two are available to the masses, but cost $20 and $250 a month, respectively.
But unfortunately, there's more getting in your way than having the right kind of Google account. Google says that Workspace users will get "promotional access to higher usage limits of speech translation for at least 60 days." There will be daily usage limits after that, but Google isn't sharing details right now.
Real-time translation is always a good thing
Google Meet is far from the only video call app to offer real-time translation right now. Skype famously had translation for years, though the brand was never as popular as it should have been after it was bought out by Microsoft. Likewise, the fact that it got merged into Teams — the video calling app equivalent of single ply toilet paper — pretty much killed the chance it had to be used by the wider public regularly.
Zoom is also capable of translating to captions in real-time. So while you're not hearing what someone is saying, you do get subtitles instead. It's like watching a foreign film, but without having to keep track of all the action on screen.
On top of that, there are plenty of other smaller-name apps that promise real translation, particularly with the aid of AI. That said, without the brand recognition of the big-name video calling apps, they have an uphill battle actually getting people to use them.
So having real-time audio translation in another mainstream app, and one that's freely available, can only be a good thing. There may be restrictions for the time being, but I suspect it won't be very long before Google starts rolling this out to regular Google account holders. Or, at the very least, those with the cheapest Gemini AI Plus plan, which costs just $8 a month.
Here's just hoping the mobile version works better than the built-in translation apps — which don't work so well with real-time conversations.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds.
