As a tech person, frequently we encounter problems in understanding words that are not in our native language. We also understand that failure in communication is a major barrier to success in the 21st century.

Due to this seemingly major problem, people cannot fully utilize their gadgets or find it hard to use a particular device.

This shouldn’t be considered a problem anymore, and it certainly shouldn’t stop you from using the phones or computers you so desire.

Thanks to the Google Translate App, which has an amazing feature where it will translate any text you highlight on your device. A small page will appear so that it doesn’t cover your full screen. On this page, you will see the translation of the word or sentence to your preferred language.

This will definitely be of help if you need a quick translation in a conversation or to understand a new language. This is much faster and easier than exiting the app you are on to the Google Translate app.

Google just made it easier for us by adding a major update to Google Translate for chatting in a foreign language without any hiccups on your favorite social media app. Android lovers can translate text within any app with this latest release.

It is easy to use. Simply highlight the phrase or word, and choose translate. The popup will also allow translation from your language back to English or another foreign language. Developers of the app also confirmed that it could work in other apps as long as you can highlight the text within that app. However, you must allow permission on the external app for it to work correctly.

Below are the three major steps for translation in any android app.

1 Download Google Translate App or Update It

Before you let the joy of easy communication get over you, you should first get the app to your phone. This can alleviate the many difficulties in communicating with your foreign partner, business colleagues, or clients. Even using a device for some tasks in a foreign language can become very blissful with this app, instead of freaking you out.

You need to download the Google Translate App first from the play store app on your android device. Open your Play Store and search for Google Translate App. If you already have the app on your phone, you should simply update it. You can update it via the Play Store, and clicking on the menu button on the top-left hand of your screen just before the search bar.

A new screen will pop out and then you will see a list starting with My apps & games, click on it and you will see apps that need updates, look for Google translate app and update.

2 Set Google Translate App on Your Device

After you finish downloading the Google Translate app on your device and installing the app properly, you launch the app by opening it. When you open the app, you will find the menu button on the top left corner of the page. On this new page that pops out on your screen, you will find a list, scroll down to settings.

Next, choose the Tap to Translate, button and then on the screen switch on the Enable toggle. After you switch the enable toggle on, you will be required to give Google Translate app permission for apps that can draw over other apps. You will have to switch on the toggle for Permit drawing over other apps.

Now that you have granted permission to the Google Translate app, you should go back to the setting page to set your preferred language. On the Preferred Languages page, you will see where you have to set your primary language and language that you translate most often. Setting your primary language will set what the app translates into by default.

For those who are fluent in the English language can leave it at English while those with other languages can set it to their preferred language and can also set the second option which tells you language that you translate to often. Whichever works for you.

After giving this permission, Show notification switch for you to get notifications concerning the app, include notification that the feature is on when you are active on a different app or doing something else with your device. This also enables you to access the translate while active on other apps from the notification by pressing the Translate button within the notification.

3 Translate In Other Apps

Once you have done the necessary things and activation required for the Google Translate app to work across all other applications on your android device, to enjoy this amazing feature on the translate app you just need to press and hold any text for a few seconds in any app, when you select the text by using the little blue drag handles to highlight on the particular text you want to translate.

When you select the text, a small popup on top of your now highlighted text, on the right of this popup, press the three dots and another new popup will appear on your screen containing a shortlist, press the Translate button, another popup will appear on your screen with the translation of the word or sentence you highlighted, and you can choose any other language you want on this particular popup.

You should know that this feature doesn’t work with hyperlinks. Just in case you want to be sure if you have the right translation, assuming you want to send a mail to a foreign business partner and you use the Google Translate you can check the translation on other online services like The Word Point as a first time user of the application.

In some other app or device, once you copy the text, a google translation button appears, tapping it will instantly put the text in your preferred language. Google Translate app works with over 60 languages. According to some sources, Google also announced some other improvements like it now supports offline mode, which allows you to download language packages to use in advance.

Final Thoughts

In general, this app has made communication easier as earlier said, and it works on your mail or any messaging app. These above steps should show us how to get the app working effectively on your device.

---

Author: Ana Mayer is a freelance writer who is a qualified specialist in the field of digital marketing. She writes for different news portals and thematic blogs that helps her stay at the heart of the programming and technology news. Such work gives her the opportunity to write articles on the most relevant topics of today.

---

Featured image: Technology photo created by pressfoto - www.freepik.com