A Google Translate Update Is Rolling Out

Google Translate for Android just got a makeover, with a brand new interface and the ability to translate a number of new languages, including Hebrew, Greek and Japanese. The new changes are designed to not only offer more translation options, but to make the app more viable for every day use in situations where back-and-forth translation is necessary.  

“Have you ever been in that frustrating situation where you meet someone -- yet can’t communicate because you don’t speak each other’s language?,” Google wrote in a blog posting. “Well, hopefully communication can become a whole lot easier with the launch of the new Google Translate app for Android. The app now features faster and simpler speech translation, additional language support, and a sleek new look.”

“With today’s updated Translate app, we also offer more language support for our handwriting feature, allowing you to directly write words in Hebrew, Greek, Javanese, and Esperanto on your device screen and have them translated on the fly. You can also use our camera translation feature to take a photo of written text with your Android device and highlight which words you’d like to be translated, now including additional language support for Malay and Ukranian.”

Tapping on the microphone now opens up a new screen where users can select input and output languages simply by tilting their device. While the experience is still likely to be mildly frustrating in a real-world scenario, it probably still beats shelling out a few hundred bucks and a few months of time learning a new language with Rosetta Stone.

If some of the app’s new features evoke a bit of déjà vu, it’s likely because Samsung boasted more or less the same functions with its S Translator app that debuted alongside the Galaxy S4.

The Translate update will be rolling out via Google Play between today and tomorrow. In the meantime, an animated demonstration of the updated app is available on Google’s official blog.