Google Translate has been updated with a very neat quality-of-life improvement on Android that sees Gboard automatically update languages to improve text entry.
This deep integration comes into play when you enter text that isn’t in the default language of your device.
Let’s say you open Google Translate on a phone where English is the default and select Spanish as the language to “Translate from” (on the left). Upon opening the text field to start typing, you’ll notice that Gboard is using the Spanish keyboard — as evidenced by the ñ in the first screenshot below.
The Translate app automatically changed Gboard to the appropriate language for text entry with the full character set (as needed) available. This makes typing more accurate and saves users from having to manually go into Gboard settings.
The globe icon also appears to switch back when appropriate. Once you exit the translation screen, Gboard returns to your default language.
Previously, after selecting a different language pairing, you’d just enter text in whatever was the device default.
We’re seeing this feature live on a Pixel and Tab S8 (both Android 12) with version 6.33 of Google Translate and Gboard 11.6 (which is currently in beta). It did not appear on a phone running 6.30 and 11.5, respectively.
There’s no denying the usefulness of Google Translate when trying to quickly check the meaning of an unfamiliar word or translate an entire sentence. One minor but bothersome issue is switching between your default keyboard to that of the foreign language anytime you have to type in Translate. The app's now getting a nifty update that should help solve that problem.
Google Translate’s recent update adds the ability for Gboard on Android to automatically switch your language when you input text in a language different from your default, per 9to5Google. Say you have English as your selected Gboard language. If you launch Google Translate and select Arabic, for example, as your “Translate from” language, Gboard will auto switch to the Arabic keyboard as soon as you open the text field to start typing.
Similarly, if you change to a different language, say Spanish, the Keyboard will auto-switch from whatever language it was in before to Spanish. Finally, Gboard will immediately switch back to your default language after you exit the translation screen. In the past, you could always tap the globe icon just to the left of the space bar if the language to be translated was one of your chosen system languages — otherwise, you had to go into Gboard settings to select it manually. This update makes things that much easier.
We can confirm that the feature is live on version 6.33 of Google Translate and is compatible with the current stable release of Gboard. You can download the latest version of Translate on APKMirror to try out the new auto language switch.
Google Translate has received several quality-of-life updates recently, especially with the app’s Material You revamp rolling out to non-Pixel users. Speaking of revamps, we’re still waiting for Google’s promised update that’ll improve "instant translation, captured image translation, and imported photo translation" on Android. We’ll update you once it arrives.
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Haroun Adamu (166 Articles Published)
Haroun became an Android enthusiast in 2014 and has been avidly following the industry since then. Currently a medical student, he doubles as an SEO copywriter for small businesses. When not scouring the net for the latest tech news, you'll either find him nose-deep into his textbooks or working on Homeripped, his fitness website.
Are you interested in NFTs but scared of unfamiliar terms like blockchain, drop, and stable coin? Well, good news for you: MHOUSE, a “members club for Web3 innovators,” has launched the Web3 Dictionary, which defines more than 340 terms that are part of the slang and jargon of the crypto community.
The terms defined in the Web3 Dictionary range from basic crypto terms (like both ETH and Ethereum) to general internet slang (sup, noobs) to pieces of NFT lore (don’t be a Kevin). Technically, it’s more of a glossary, but I admit I’m reaching there. If you don’t find the definition you’re looking for, you can always suggest a term to be added.
Crypto culture is all about bucking traditional institutions, and the Web3 Dictionary is not exactly Merriam-Webster. It is written in a flip and chatty tone, with plenty of editorialization mixed in. The entry on Meta is basically a big middle finger to Mark Zuckerberg, and Bored Ape Yacht Club is described as “the one NFT that everyone wished they had bought.” As for the SEC, well, don’t get MHOUSE started on that one. Even the example sentences — sorry, the “degen chats” — are tongue-in-cheek.
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The co-founder of MHOUSE, who goes by the meat space name James or the username CodeRave, told Tubefilter that the Web3 Dictionary is “the most comprehensive web3, NFT, crypto and DeFi dictionary in the metaverse.” In his email, he included a definition of MHOUSE. The members-only club believes “everybody should have access to the resources they need to participate in the web3 revolution.”
Even though I am still an avowed Nocoiner (sorry, CodeRave), I’m still thankful to have the Web3 Dictionary at my disposal. Now that I’ve studied these terms, I can actually follow the topics on conversation in MHOUSE’s MTALKS podcast, which is available through its website.
You might already know that if you’re in a jam and you can’t call 911, you can text. Now that works, even if you don’t speak or text English. The Indiana Statewide 911 Board announced Wednesday that the service has been upgraded to include translation for over 100 languages.
“Text-to-911 enables direct access to emergency services for those who are deaf or speaking-impaired, having a medical emergency that prevents them from being able to speak, or in a situation where making a voice call would put them in danger,” said Indiana Treasurer Mitchell, chair of the Statewide 911 Board, in a news conference Wednesday.
“We’ve already seen the benefits of texting to 911. It allows people in sensitive situations to communicate with law enforcement, and now we are removing the language barriers to those services.”
Three years ago dispatchers across the state began using a voice translation system for people who don’t speak English. Nine in ten of those calls involve people who speak Spanish. The counties that use it the most are Marion, Allen, Elkhart, White and Tippecanoe.
The new system will allow non-English speaking people who cannot call 911 to communicate effectively with dispatchers all over the state.
“With technology constantly evolving, this upgrade shows why Indiana is on the forefront in providing 911 services to our non-English speaking citizens,” said Ed Reuter, Executive Director of the Statewide 911 Board. “This new translation upgrade will help bridge the communication gap and speed up sending emergency services when every second counts.”
“Our company works to improve 911 service every day,” said Mark Grady, CEO of INdigital. “Strong state programs like Indiana lead the nation with good legislation, targeted funding, and letting us build better systems. Our goal is for everyone to have access to 911 when they need it most. Bridging language barriers and providing more ways to communicate are essential in today’s world.”
Located in the 5th Street Arcades, Clevo Books will focus on women authors and the German language.
Shelved alongside the Barrio at the 5th Street Arcades downtown, Cathryn Siegal-Bergman’s latest venture is a brick-and-mortar bookstore that builds off her publishing house of the same name. When Siegal-Bergman holds the grand opening of Clevo Books between 5 and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, the shop will become the only bookseller in downtown, and certainly the only one to focus on writing by women and translated from German.
“That was always part of the business plan to grow into a retail environment where we would be selling our own books side by side with other publishers' books,” Siegal-Bergman says. “The focus on women was really inspired by the Women in Translation (WIT) movement.”
A fluent Deutsch discourser, Siegal-Bergman says she founded Clevo as a publishing house to pipeline books from German to English in 2015. She discovered WIT via Twitter around 2018 and her next curatorial obsession was born. DJing as Cathryn Sunday, the store owner cut her teeth on recommending dance tracks to listeners between the mid-’90s and 2000s, including at Capsule in Lakewood, which she purchased in 2003.
Prior to selling the nightclub two years later, Siegal-Bergman was able to curate beers and cocktails, and, through Clevo, says she is now able to suggest books. “I think of myself as kind of a connector,” she says. “As a DJ I was curating music and trying to pair people with the music they might like. And I did the same thing at Capsule with the drinks.”
Helping her in that custodial capacity is Clevo sales manager Marc Lansley, who shares her vision for filling the shop with stories of cultural identity. That intent is clear in the publisher’s lineup of upcoming releases, including Zoë Beck’s mystery novel “Fade to Black,” translated by Rachel Reynolds, in June and Murielle Rousseau's culture-spanning cookbook “Provence” in September.
Before those launches, Siegal-Bergman wants to press the “indent” key on the Arcades with book clubs centering around the shop’s dual German-women focus. Lansley, a native German speaker, intends to host entire discussions in the language and board game nights.
In addition to new and used fiction and nonfiction books, Siegal-Bergman intends to line Clevo’s walls with accessories and apparel bearing designs from nearby artists, again keeping the focus on female creatives. Visitors who go for the grand opening will find dresses adorned with the shop’s skyline logo.
“We think we have an opportunity for tourists to buy local art from us,” Siegal-Bergman adds. “We’re under a hotel and we’re surrounded by hotels and we want to be the bridge between Cleveland and the world.
Note: Clevo Books is accessible via the Prospect Avenue East entrance to the 5th Street Arcades. The store will be open between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and for special events only on Sundays. The March 31 grand opening will include light refreshments and entertainment from local magicians at Lake Erie Illusions.
Indie game Tunic was released recently, and alongside its charming art and gameplay also came a brand-new language. The game is full of rune-like writings, which players can easily translate through a few different means, if they so choose.
Game-specific languages aren't anything new, as they've been present in big releases like Greedfall and Final Fantasy X . Although not completely necessary, it's actually pretty useful to translate the language of Tunic, as it contains vital information. While players won't be completely out of the loop if they don't translate the game's language, a good chunk of the game's text is unreadable without doing so. Thankfully, there are already plenty of tools to make the process easier, including a guide and a translation tool.
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The backbone of how Tunic's language works is phonemes, which are basically just individual sounds within a language. For example, "a," "ch," and "ph" are all phonemes. Each phoneme has its own individual character, whether it's made from one English letter or multiple. In Tunic, the language's characters generally represent a vowel or consonant combination. These characters are then connected using a horizontal line that goes through the center of the characters. When connected like this, the characters form words.
Each letter fits within a hexagonal structure and connects different points within it to create lines representing either vowel or consonant sounds. The outer points are used for vowels, and the inner points are used for consonants. Each letter has a different combination of lines within the hexagon, and consonant and vowel edges can be used simultaneously within a character to represent a full phoneme. Although the language looks really bizarre, it's actually just English using different characters, making it less of a language and more like a particularly complex code. This means there aren't any new words to memorize, just a different way to write the words.
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While it sounds complicated, all it takes is some practice getting used to the pattern. Thankfully, if that sounds like too much, there are a few resources for translation. Reddit user oposdeo has made a guide on how exactly the language works. It goes over the character formation, the specific characters found in the language and the grammar, which is the same as in English. If translating by hand is too much, there's also an interactive translation web app made by Reddit user Scylithe. Players can use this tool to draw a character and see the sound it represents. To do this, drag the connecting dots to form the lines within the character.
Players have also come up with plenty of other fun translation methods. For example, Reddit user officefan55 made a physical "talking board" out of popsicle sticks that they use to physically make the runes. There are some other similarly creative solutions to the language barrier in Tunic, though the ones mentioned here are the most notable. Overall, the complexity of Tunic's language has led to plenty of out-of-the-box thinking and creative methods of translation to reduce the workload of the general player base.
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Even with these resources readily available for any player to read through and use, translating Tunic's language can still take a good deal of effort and time. Thankfully, players can bypass some of this using an already-translated version of the instruction manual as per Reddit users skititlez and RioxAA. The manual is actually included throughout the game, so this is a pretty useful tool. However, there's still plenty of text in the game that's left untranslated outside of the instruction booklet.
Since there's so much extra text available to translate, it's definitely worth putting in the time to learn how to do so. It definitely takes some brainpower and effort, but it helps not only with progressing through the game but also with the immersion of Tunic's gameplay and story. There's nothing quite like going through a game and being able to understand all of its texts without having to look through a walkthrough.
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Meredith McNally (18 Articles Published)
Meredith McNally is a Gaming Features Writers Writer located in Kentucky. She has plenty of gaming experience, from Legends of Runeterra to Apex Legends to The Witcher 3. When not busying herself conquering the world in Crusader Kings 3, she can be found drawing or playing bass guitar.
