"Examining Live Translation on iOS 26 versus Galaxy AI revealed unexpected outcomes for me"
In the realm of technological advancements, two giants in the mobile industry – Apple and Samsung – are constantly vying for supremacy. Recently, the focus has been on their Live Translation features, which translate phone calls in real time.
Apple's Live Translation, introduced in iOS 26, provides a more practical experience due to its earlier translation start and the ability to scroll through the translation. However, it currently supports only four languages: Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French [1]. On the other hand, Samsung's Galaxy AI offers Live Translate with 25+ languages supported, making Samsung much more versatile in language coverage [1].
Both systems handle text translation similarly well for general content, but real-time speech translation remains challenging for both. Apple's Live Translation on iOS 26 tends to cut off recordings quickly, offering generally good but sometimes incomplete translations. Samsung Galaxy AI, on the other hand, continuously records and translates speech, which can lead to nonsense or inaccurate translations if speakers are not clear and slow [2].
The user experience differences are notable. iOS 26 integrates Live Translation across Messages, Phone, and FaceTime, offering automatic text translation, real-time translated captions in FaceTime, and live audio translation in calls, all running on-device for privacy [3][5]. Samsung's Live Translate also supports various features but reportedly has less accessible and less readable AR camera translation tools compared to Apple and Google [2].
Privacy is a key concern for both, but Apple's Live Translation uses on-device intelligence aiming to protect user privacy, with seamless translation embedded deeply into core apps [3][4]. Samsung, while offering broader language support, is more prone to noisy real-time speech issues [3][4].
In summary, Samsung Galaxy AI excels in language breadth and versatility, while iOS 26 prioritizes privacy and deep integration with a smoother UI experience. Apple is hoped to make necessary tweaks and additions to improve Live Translation for the final release of iOS 26 later this fall [6].
[1] During the test, a comparison was made of how the Live Translate features in iOS 26 and Galaxy AI perform. The test stories were generated using Google Gemini and translated by Google Translate. [2] The test was conducted using an iPhone 16 Pro Max running the iOS 26 beta against a Galaxy Z Flip 7 running One UI 8 on top of Android 16. [3] In the German translation test, iOS 26 began translating after a couple of sentences and overlays the spoken translation over the speaker's voice. In the same test, Galaxy AI waited until the entire conversation was over to start the translation, which can feel awkward. [4] During Spanish translation tests, iOS 26 spoke the translation aloud after a couple of sentences, while Galaxy AI had a delayed translation. During French translation tests, the iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 26 provided a better experience due to its real-time, audible translation. [5] iOS 26 delivers a more practical experience due to its earlier translation start and the ability to scroll through the translation. With Galaxy AI, users cannot scroll through the transcript while on the call. [6] To get Galaxy AI to start translating earlier, the caller must pause for a longer period of time. Neither Live Translation service allows saving transcripts while the feature is active.
Samsung Galaxy AI offers Live Translate with 25+ languages supported, making it more versatile in language coverage compared to Apple's Live Translation in iOS 26, which currently supports only four languages. However, Apple's Live Translation on iOS 26 tends to start translating earlier, allowing for scrolling through the translation, a feature not available with Samsung's Galaxy AI during calls.
