Google Translate conversation mode on phone, PC and offline

Start a conversation on Android, iPhone or iPad

Conversation mode lives inside Live translate in the Translate app. Google's help pages for Android and for iPhone and iPad give the same steps:

1. Open the Translate app and tap Live translate at the bottom of the screen.
2. Choose Conversation. On iPhone and iPad, Google lists four modes in all: Listening, Conversation, Text only and Custom settings.
3. Pick the two languages.
4. Talk in turns. The microphone detects when one language stops and the other starts, so nobody has to tap a button between speakers. On iPhone and iPad the translation plays out loud through the phone speaker or headphones.

If a tutorial tells you to look for a separate Conversation button, it may be describing an older version of the app. Google's current pages put Conversation under Live translate.

To lay the phone between you and the other person, tap Face to face. Each of you then reads the transcript and translation in your own language on your half of the screen. Tap Speak to pause or resume, and Close to leave the mode.

On a PC or laptop

There's no conversation mode on the website. Google's help page for bilingual conversations on a computer says you can't talk and translate at the same time on Google Translate for the web, and points you to the Translate app on a phone or tablet.

The website does take voice input, one speaker at a time. Per Google's computer instructions for speech, you allow the browser to use your microphone, open Google Translate, choose the languages, click the microphone at the bottom, speak, then click Stop. Google says microphone translation works in Chrome and has limited support in Safari and Edge.

For a real back-and-forth at a desk, put a phone between the two of you and run the app there. If what you need on the computer is captions for audio that's playing, our guides to Windows Live Captions, Chrome Live Caption and live captions on every device cover that.

Offline

Google's Android page says offline live translation is currently only for Pixel 9, 10 and 11 users, and it lists ten language pairs. On any other phone, don't count on Conversation working without a connection. The iPhone and iPad page doesn't mention an offline mode at all.

Before a trip, switch on airplane mode and run one conversation with the exact languages you'll need. If it doesn't start, you've found out at home. If you also need to read menus on the trip, our guide to reading a Japanese menu by camera covers that.

When it won't start or stops listening

Work through these in order.

It stops after a pause. In Face to face, Speak is a pause and resume control. If the mic went quiet, tap Speak again.

You can't hear the translation. On iPhone and iPad, translations play through the phone speaker or headphones, so check the volume and which output is connected. For the headphone steps on iPhone, see playing translations into your headphones. For the one-way Speak button on Android, Google puts the switch in Menu → Settings → Speech input → Speak output, according to its speech translation page.

A language won't work with the microphone. On that same Android page, Google says that if the Speak button is disabled, the spoken language can't be translated. Pick a different language for the speaker, or type instead.

Live translate or Conversation isn't on screen. Update the Translate app, then look again. The steps above describe Google's current help pages, and your screen may show something else on an older version.

The microphone is blocked. On a computer, Google's instructions start with giving the browser permission to use the microphone. On a phone, check the Translate app's microphone permission in the system settings.

The browser is Safari or Edge. Google lists only limited microphone support there. Try Chrome.

You're offline. See the section above. Outside Pixel 9, 10 and 11, assume the mode needs a connection.

If all of that fails, try the same conversation on a phone or tablet instead of the web, since the web version doesn't have the mode.

Apple's Translate app

An iPhone also ships with Apple's own Translate app, and Apple documents its in-person mode in Translate in-person conversations with iPhone. Our guide to iPhone live translation languages lists which languages Apple's translation features cover. If you're deciding between Apple's app and Google Translate for a trip, our comparison of the two translation apps shows how to test your own language pair.

A long talk or lecture

Conversation mode is built for two people trading turns in two languages. For a 45-minute lecture in one language, where you want text that keeps scrolling and stays on the screen, that's the wrong tool. You'd be treating the lecture as a series of turns the app has to guess at.

Vocena fits that case. Its live captions are free and have no time limit. It runs on iPhone and iPad (iOS / iPadOS 26 or later) and on Mac (macOS 15.5 or later). Each caption line is labeled as coming from the microphone or from system audio, not by speaker. Translation under each line is a paid feature, so if you only need to read the lecture in its own language, the free captions are enough.