AirPods are much more than just headphones. With the arrival of Apple Intelligence and the integration with Apple’s Translate app, we can now have conversations with people who don’t speak our language and hear their replies translated directly into our AirPods. A feature that removes barriers and, once again, shows just how much Apple’s ecosystem makes everyday life easier for us.
How to prepare our AirPods for real-time translation
To use this feature, which arrived with iOS 26.2, we need AirPods 4 with noise cancellation or AirPods Pro 2 or later, paired with an iPhone 15 Pro or later running iOS 26 and with Apple Intelligence enabled. We also need to have Apple’s Translate app installed and make sure the AirPods are updated to the latest firmware version.
Once we meet the requirements, the first step to using Real-time Translation is to download the languages we want to use. All processing happens on our iPhone, so the privacy of our conversations is total. To download the languages, we follow these steps:
- We put on the AirPods and connect them to the iPhone.
- We open the Settings app and tap the name of our AirPods.
- We go to Translation > Languages and select the ones we want to download.
How to start a conversation with real-time translation
With the languages downloaded, we can start using the feature from the Translate app. In the Live tab, we choose the language the other person speaks and the language we want to hear the translation in. From there, we have several ways to start the translation:
- Tap Start translation in the Translate app.
- Press and hold the stem on both AirPods at the same time.
- Ask Siri directly with “Start real-time translation.”
The translation system is surprisingly natural. We hear the other person’s voice, and our iPhone analyzes and translates what they say instantly, playing the result directly into our AirPods. If we’re in a noisy place, we can bring the iPhone closer to our conversation partner so its microphones pick up the conversation better, which improves translation accuracy.
When we speak, the other person can read our reply in the Live tab of the Translate app or hear it through the iPhone’s speaker. If they’re also wearing compatible AirPods, they’ll hear the translation directly in their earbuds (here’s how we can equalize AirPods audio so they sound even better).
Stopping the translation when we’re done is as easy as tapping the X button on the screen or pressing both stems on the earbuds again.
Real-time translation with AirPods is something that surprises us the first time we use it. With just our earbuds, and with total privacy, we can travel, work, or simply meet new people without thinking about the language. One of those features that radically changes our day-to-day without drawing attention. One simple press and we can talk.
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