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Apple Unveils AI-Powered Live Translation Service for iOS 26

The new language translation feature will function across the Messages, FaceTime and Phone apps.

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Headshot of Thomas Kika
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Thomas is a native of upstate New York and a graduate of the University at Albany. As a former member of CNET's How To team, he wrote about the intersection of policy, information and technology, and how you can best be served in that area. Outside of work, he can most often be found watching too many movies, reading too much, drinking too much coffee, or spending time with his cats.
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Apple/Screenshot by CNET

Language barriers look set to fall in Apple's forthcoming iOS 26 with its new Live Translation feature.

Unveiled during the company's WWDC 2025 presentation on Monday, Live Translation will, as the name suggests, offer on-the-fly language translation across the Phone, Messages and FaceTime apps in iOS 26, after years of the company dabbling with translation as its own app or via Siri.

It's an AI-powered service, marking the company's latest effort to provide greater value from its Apple Intelligence AI systems, after the relatively tepid rollout in the last year.

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A glimpse of how Live Translation will work for texting in iOS 26.

 Apple/Screenshot by CNET

In Messages, texts will translate into the recipient's preferred language as you type them out. Messages you receive back will also be instantly translated for you.

While FaceTiming, Live Translation will offer captions in your preferred language as you converse with someone else speaking a different one, without interfering with the other person's voice. That's in contrast to its functionality during phone calls, which will feature a spoken translation alongside the voice of the person you're speaking with.

Watch this: I'm Impressed With iOS 26. Apple Just Made iPhones Better

There's also no need to rehash any of those iMessage anxieties, as Live Translation will work even if the person you're communicating with isn't using an iPhone. For the time being, however, it's unknown which and how many languages will be supported.