Google is testing a helpful new feature for YouTube that will automatically translate English video titles, descriptions and captions into the user's native language.
YouTube’s Automatic Translation Experiment
A small subset of YouTube users has the option in the mobile YouTube app and the web interface on desktops. As reported by Android Police, this is an experiment on Google's part. It's currently unclear whether YouTube eventually plans on releasing this to everyone.
People who are included in the limited test don't have to do anything on their part---this is a server-side change requiring no app update. The site reported seeing the automatic translation of English videos into both Portuguese and Turkish. The feature automatically translates the text of video titles, descriptions, and closed captions.
Support for More Languages Coming Soon
Chances are these AI-powered speech and text translations will expand to many more languages in the future. After all, YouTube's interface is localized for more than 100 markets.
Besides, Google's Translate service includes support for a whopping 109 languages across the web and the mobile app for iOS and Android, according to a post on The Keyword blog.
The service can propose translations for 37 languages via photo, 32 languages throughout voice in conversation mode, and 27 languages via live video in augmented reality mode.
With that in mind, it's pretty safe to assume that the automatic translation feature that YouTube is currently testing is based on the same underlying Translate engine.
Google Expands Real-Time Captions
Google recently brought a similar language translation feature to its Chrome browser. Live captions in Chrome take advantage of on-device processing to translate any audio playing in the browser in real-time without having to upload anything to the Google cloud.
A similar feature has been available on certain Android smartphones, including Google's own Pixel line, Samsung's Galaxy S20 series, the OnePlus 8 lineup, and other devices. And in a typical Google fashion, live captions on Android even work with phone calls.
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