Apple is finally weaving translation directly into how we talk, text, and video chat on iOS 26. With Live Translation, the iPhone becomes a real-time interpreter, offering instant speech and text translation within Messages, Phone, and FaceTime—all without sending data to the cloud. The feature runs entirely on-device and works where conversations already happen, from group chats to video calls.
In Messages, your texts automatically appear in the recipient’s preferred language as you type. During FaceTime calls, Live Translation adds real-time captions without interrupting the speaker’s voice. On phone calls, the system reads out a translated version of your words using an AI voice, keeping conversations fluid and multilingual.
This feature is powered by Apple Intelligence, the company’s new on-device AI framework. Unlike Google or Samsung’s cloud-reliant tools, Apple’s translations stay local to your iPhone. That means faster responses and better privacy, with nothing shared or stored externally. The translation system also works offline once the necessary language packs are downloaded.
To use Live Translation, you’ll need an iPhone 15 Pro, Pro Max, or one of the iPhone 16 models. It requires Apple Intelligence to be enabled, along with Siri and your device language set to a supported option. In Messages, the feature works with English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese. For Phone and FaceTime, support starts with fewer options: English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Live Translation works even if the person on the other end isn’t using an iPhone. It’s also expanding to iPadOS 26, with support across the same three core apps. Messages translation will be available on watchOS 26 as well, for users with compatible Apple Watch models like the Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2.
Apple Music is getting its own translation upgrade. Lyrics can now be translated in-app, and there’s a pronunciation feature to help you sing along without mangling foreign lyrics. You can also pin favorite artists and albums in your library, and use your iPhone as a mic on Apple TV for karaoke with reverb and vocal controls.
