AirPods will get a foreign language translation function on the fly
When Apple announced Live Translation at WWDC 2025, it promised that it would work during phone calls, SMS, and FaceTime. It seems that this feature will soon be available for live communication.
Here's What We Know
The new iOS 26 beta 6 update reveals information about a new gesture - pressing both AirPods at the same time. 
contains the words "hello" in English, Portuguese, French, and German, and the gesture itself opens the Translate app.
Preliminarily, the new feature will be available only on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4th generation. Bloomberg reports that despite the lack of an announcement, Apple has been working on this feature since the beginning of the year.
Earlier, Apple introduced Live Translation for Messages, Phone, and FaceTime at WWDC 2025. The feature provides instant translation between Chinese (simplified), English (UK, US), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. It is logical to expect that the new format will support the same set of languages.
When to expect it
Live Translation may be activated in the iOS 26 release in autumn 2025. Since the feature has not yet been officially announced, it is likely that it will be available only exclusively for the new iPhone 17 and will be announced along with it. It is also expected that Apple Intelligence features will be used for its operation.
The function of translating an ordinary conversation in real time will be useful for tourists and travellers. Modern technologies successfully erase language barriers. The integration of changes in iOS 26 means that we won't have to wait long.
Source: 9to5mac.com
