Google Now on Tap Brings Language Translation Into Apps

Long press the home button and tap the “Translate this screen” button and it will translate it instantly for you.

Google Now on Tap sounded really cool when it was announced at part of Android M, but the reality of using it has been largely disappointing so far. When you activate Now on Tap while reading an article about astronomy, for instance, tap the new Discover button to get a stream of photos, news articles, and videos about NASA or space exploration.

With this update, you can now take advantage of Google’s translation service regardless of whether you’re in an app or a webpage.

Finally, Google Now will let you scan a barcode or QR code on a product – including books, DVDs and more – to get a quick rundown of cards related to the object such as user reviews or places to buy them. Google Now on Tap will do the rest, translating the text into the native language you have selected on your phone. For example the latest update brings support for translating text on any page, among other things. The translate feature is now available for phones with the language set to English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian, but it can translate several more languages, including Japanese.

For those that happen to run into foreign languages while using their Android device, Google Now on Tap will quickly translate the content with just a couple taps.