Google this week updated its Gboard app for iOS devices with a new ability to translate text into any language supported by Google Translate (via All Things How). This means that users can now send iMessages in different languages right from their keyboard, without visiting an external app.

google translate gboard
To see the translation feature, make sure that your Gboard app is updated to version 1.42.0 and then navigate to the Messages app. Open the keyboard, and then tap the globe icon in the bottom left corner to cycle to Gboard. In Gboard, the new translation feature is represented by an icon immediately to the right of the white G button in the top left corner.

From here, you can choose which language you want to translate your text into, and when you tap the translate button it will automatically be applied to the iMessage entry field so you can send it to your contact. The translation feature in Gboard first launched on Android smartphones back in 2017.

Besides translating text, in Gboard you can send GIFs, emoji, stickers, and access features like glide typing and performing a Google search. The keyboard app also connects to other Google services like YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Contacts.

Tag: Gboard

Top Rated Comments

jmh600cbr Avatar
59 months ago
this is amazing! I have been using itranslate for years but it crashes and gives horrible translations. My family lives in Russia and speaks 0 english and i speak 0 russian. I literally use this daily.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chewbaka Avatar
59 months ago
I can't think of a better way to enhance the privacy-focused iMessage than by incorporating a Google applet.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kuwxman Avatar
59 months ago
Oh, a new Google post? Let me check to see if there are ignorant posts about Google being bad. Yep. Like clockwork. It will be an amazing day when talk in a thread can actually be about the Google product or service itself instead of the nonsense above we always see.

I, for one, welcome this update. My German is a bit rusty so this is going to come in handy.

Attachment Image
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chewbaka Avatar
59 months ago
Wouldn't it be a little bit difficult to translate without knowing what you typed?
Wow. You're so clever!

Please stop pretending you don't know what I mean. Surely you see a problem in sending your texts to Google
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MisterSavage Avatar
59 months ago
this is amazing! I have been using itranslate for years but it crashes and gives horrible translations. My family lives in Russia and speaks 0 english and i speak 0 russian. I literally use this daily.
Technology amazes me. How many years ago would it have been unthinkable to do this?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
@meinertzhagen Avatar
59 months ago
Cool, but no thank you. I don't want everything I typed being sent and stored at Google for eternity.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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