What you need to know
- Google seems to be working on a new design for the Translate app.
- The new interface makes it easier to access some of the app's key functionalities in one-handed mode.
- Translate's fresh makeover could launch alongside the release of the Google Pixel 6 devices.
Google Translate is one of the company's services that hasn't seen much love in a while now, but that could be changing soon. Google appears to be working on a major redesign for the Translate app.
XDA Developers spotted the new UI as part of the app's version 6.21 release that rolled out over the weekend. The latest version includes a new Activity titled "NewTranslateActivity" that introduces a fresh interface. However, some key functionalities in the new UI remain inactive for now, such as the camera button, More button, star button at the top left, and the account button at the top right.
The new design is also said to be in line with the upcoming release of the Google Pixel 6 series, which was officially unveiled earlier today with the new Tensor chip. The Manifest entry for this new Activity contains a string called "app_name_p21", supposedly in reference to the new Pixel devices that run Android 12. Seeing as how the new Google Tensor chip emphasizes computational photography and speech recognition, it's possible that the UI revamp is also tied to Google's upcoming flagship smartphones.
Translate's new makeover also appears to focus on one-handed accessibility. For example, the UI moves the language switcher, camera, microphone, and more buttons to the bottom of the screen from their current location at the top.
The option to access the Phrasebook, Saved Transcripts, Settings, and Offline Translation through the hamburger menu is also now gone. Presumably, you can access them from the More button in the bottom right.
The new design is yet to roll out to Google's best Android phones. However, it remains unclear if it'll be a Pixel-exclusive release, although Google's past releases indicate that it could be the case, especially with the Pixel 6 and its new Tensor chip on the way.
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