Image: Google
We’ve all taken automatic language translation for granted, especially where web pages are concerned. But Google has finally added it to where it might be the most useful: the mobile version of Gmail.
To be fair, automatic translation has been a feature of Gmail for years, but only on the web. Now, Google is building it into its mobile app, where millions of people access their email every day. Android users will see automatic translation within their Gmail app via an update scheduled beginning today, August 8; iOS users will receive an update as early as August 21.
Like the web, you’ll simply see a small banner at the top of an email which was authored in a foreign language. If your primary language is English, the banner will say “Translate to English.” (A follow-up will ask you if you want email in that language automatically translated: “Automatically translate Spanish,” for example.) Workplace or IT admins will have no control whether or not you opt in or out, according to Google.
You can refuse automatic translation via the automatic settings menu, but we doubt you’ll want to. Google rates this as a “highly requested” feature, and we’d agree.
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor
As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.