Google Translate is a great little app that allows you to translate text on your Android phone from one language to another. The one hitch however is that you would have to copy that text from your original app, where the foreign text is found, and paste that into the Translator app. It worked, but it was a bit clunky. Google agreed and in the latest update to the app, you can now do the translation right within the original app via a Translate floating button. The update is rolling out into the Google Play Store now and for those of you who heavily depend on the app, this will be a big time saver.
How this works is pretty straightforward. In the app with the foreign language, tap-and-hold to select the text you want to translate. This will pop up the edit menu where you can copy the text.
Google Translate In App Translation Button
At this point, Google Translate will pop up a floating button which, when tapped, will automatically copy the text you highlighted to Translate and will provide you with the translation. It is very quick and very handy as it saves you from having to switch between apps.
There are a couple of new features beyond this new translation function. There is a new lens which allows you to point your camera at a sign in a Chinese and it will automatically translate it for you. Also, the offline files to translate offline have been dramatically shrunk to a mere 25MB, well down from the over 100MB on average in the previous release.
If you haven’t checked it out, download Google Translate. It is one of those must have apps for anyone who travels abroad and can save you a lot of time and grief trying to read that sign in the train station somewhere in the world.
