In this guide · 8 sections
Short answer
Face to face, the free Google Translate app now uses Gemini 3.5 Live Translate with headphones, in 70+ languages. Meet speech translation needs Business Standard or above and, as of October 2026, lists only six languages paired with English. Developers can use the Gemini Live API.
What Google launched in June 2026
Google's Gemini 3.5 Live Translate announcement of 9 June 2026 describes an audio model that detects more than 70 languages and produces translated speech that keeps the speaker's intonation and pacing. Rather than waiting for each sentence to finish, it translates continuously and stays a few seconds behind the speaker. Google's June AI recap lists it among the month's main launches.
Google Translate app
EveryoneFree app
- Android and iOS
- Live translate with any headphones
- Android 'listening mode' through the phone earpiece
- Good for counters, site visits and deliveries
Best for: Face-to-face conversations.
Google Meet speech translation
WorkspaceBusiness Standard and above
- Translated speech in a voice like yours
- 90-minute limit per meeting
- Not on phones; meeting rooms can only listen
- New 70+ language version in private preview
Best for: Scheduled video calls with overseas clients.
Gemini Live API
DevelopersPublic preview
- Model gemini-3.5-live-translate-preview
- Audio in, translated audio and transcript out
- No tools or custom instructions
- For building into your own app or phone system
Best for: Businesses with a developer and a specific use case.
Languages that matter in Singapore
The Live API language list includes Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Malay, Tamil, Bahasa Indonesia, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, Burmese, Hindi, Bengali, Japanese and Korean. That covers most customer and worker languages here. Dialects such as Hokkien or Cantonese are not in the list.
| Where | Languages as of 21 October 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini Live API | 70+, including Chinese, Malay, Tamil, Thai, Indonesian | Live API docs |
| Google Translate app | 70+ (Google's announcement) | Google blog, 9 June 2026 |
| Google Meet speech translation | English with French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish | Meet help page |
Google Meet: plan requirements and limits
Meet's speech translation help page lists the eligible plans: Google Workspace Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, Frontline Plus, and personal Google AI Pro and Ultra accounts. Business Starter is not on the list. On Google's Singapore pricing page, Business Standard is S$18.80 per user per month on an annual commitment or S$22.40 on monthly billing (before GST, as of October 2026).
- The host's account must be eligible. Google's troubleshooting list names the host's plan, the participant's region and device, not the participant's plan.
- One language pair per meeting. Changing the pair stops translation for everyone and restarts it.
- 90-minute limit on speech translation per meeting.
- Not in live streams or recordings, and not for participants on phones or under 18.
- Admin setting is on by default for all eligible plans.
Google warns that real-time translation makes more errors than translating text: wrong words, odd accents and wrong noun genders. It suggests rephrasing unclear sentences and using translated captions and the chat as backup.
Privacy: what happens to the call audio
Before using live translation with customers, check where their voices go. The answer differs by product.
| Product | What Google says | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Google Meet speech translation | No audio is saved and no models are trained on your voice | Tell participants translation is on at the start |
| Gemini API, unpaid quota and AI Studio | Google may use inputs and outputs to improve its products, and human reviewers may read them; do not submit sensitive or personal information | Do not test with real customer calls on free quota |
| Gemini API, paid tier | Different data-use terms apply to paid services | Read the Paid Services section of the API terms before launch |
| Google Translate app | Consumer app under Google's general terms | Avoid it for medical, legal or financial details |
Under Singapore's PDPA, a customer's voice and what they say about themselves is personal data. Tell customers when a conversation is being run through a translation tool, and do not use it for conversations involving NRIC numbers, health or payment details. Our PDPA guide to generative AI covers the PDPC's expectations.
Where live translation helps a small business
Live translation works best where a short, practical conversation would otherwise not happen, and where a mistake is easy to spot and correct.
Good uses
- Explaining opening hours, directions or delivery times at a counter
- A quick check-in call with an overseas supplier
- Talking a foreign worker through a site safety briefing, with a written copy too
- First contact with a tourist or new resident customer
Use a human or written translation
- Contracts, quotations and payment terms
- Medical, legal or insurance advice
- Complaints where tone and exact wording matter
- Anything you will later rely on as a record
For written translation, our comparisons of DeepL, Google Translate and ChatGPT and the best AI for Chinese-English business translation are more relevant.
Run your own 30-minute test
We have not run our own benchmark of Gemini 3.5 Live Translate. Before relying on it, test it with your real conversations.
Pick three real scenarios
For example a price enquiry, directions, and a complaint. Write the key facts each side must get across.
Use two people who speak both languages
One plays the customer. The other listens to the translation and notes errors.
Test in your real environment
Shop floor noise, a site, or a quiet office: Google says the model handles noise, but check it.
Score what matters
Did prices, numbers, dates and names come through correctly? Those are where mistakes cost money.
Decide the rule for staff
Write one line: which conversations may use live translation, and which must not.
Do it yourself or get help?
The Translate app and Meet need no set-up beyond the right plan. Building live translation into a phone line or your own app is a developer job and, with the model in preview, best kept to a trial for now.
For multilingual customers who mostly message rather than call, our AI Website Assistant (S$790) answers questions from your own website, FAQ and documents in English plus one more language, captures leads and hands over to WhatsApp or email when a person is needed. IT Sorted is a Singapore-based team of developers with over 10 years of experience; you pay upfront, send the brief in writing and follow progress on your order page.
Frequently asked questions
Not yet in general. As of 21 October 2026, Google Meet's speech translation help page lists English paired with French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish. Google has said Meet will move to Gemini 3.5 Live Translate with over 70 languages, starting with a private preview for selected business customers and a broader rollout later in 2026.
Google lists Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, and Frontline Plus, as well as personal Google AI Pro and Ultra plans. Business Starter is not included. The meeting must be hosted by an eligible account; Google's troubleshooting notes point to the host's plan, region, device and age rather than each participant's plan.
The Google Translate app is free to download and uses Gemini 3.5 Live Translate for live conversations. Meet's speech translation comes with eligible Workspace plans. The Gemini Live API is in public preview for developers; free quota is available, but Google may use data from unpaid use to improve its products, so do not test with real customer conversations.
Google's Meet help page says no audio is saved and no models are trained on your voice when using speech translation. Speech translation also does not work in live streams or recordings. You should still tell participants at the start of the call that translation is switched on.
It is not a good idea. Google itself notes that real-time translation produces more errors than text translation, including wrong words and genders. Use live translation for everyday conversation, and send prices, terms and contracts in writing, checked by someone who reads both languages.