Pixel 4’s Live Caption feature will come to the Pixel 3 line by year’s end

By Corey Gaskin Published March 25, 2022

If you’re deaf, hard of hearing, or simply in a situation where you can’t listen to audio, Google’s Live Caption offers a way to enjoy your content without needing sound, providing captions for videos, audio messages, and anything besides calls and video chats. Google announced Live Caption’s official availability exclusively with the Pixel 4 during its official launch on Tuesday, October 15. The company is now committing to adding the Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, and Pixel 3a XL to the list of compatible devices by the end of 2019.

There’s yet to be any word on if or when this feature will come to other Android devices, though it is featured as an addition in Android 10. Unfortunately, it appears that Pixel models older than the Pixel 3 will be left out — a curious omission considering the apparent ability of the Pixel 3a’s hardware to process live captions without issue. It would certainly stand to reason that a Pixel 2 could do the same.

Recommended Videos

YouTube has provided real-time captions on its videos for the past decade, but Live Captions extends this functionality to any form of content which has audio, except for phone and video calls. Powered by the company’s adept on-device processing, Live Caption doesn’t require an internet connection. This enables users to interact with their media whenever and however they’d like.

The recordings aren’t saved or archived in any way, and Google says that any data related to the captioning will never leave the device.

Google does its best to keep Live Captions nonintrusive; enabling and disabling the feature is as simple as clicking the volume button and tapping the Live Caption icon. To provide an optimal experience, Google allows users to mask any profanity the algorithm picks up, if they so choose. You can also move the on-screen captions with a simple tap and drag.

We saw a preview of this feature at Google I/O 2019, along with another speech-to-text feature called Live Transcribe. This turns your Android phone into a live transcription tool that can understand and transcribe over 70 different languages. Unlike Live Caption, Live Transcribe is currently available on all Android phones as an app download, allows saving of transcribed text, and requires an internet connection for processing.

Former Associate Editor, Mobile

Corey’s technological obsession started as a teenager, lusting after the brand-new LG VX8300 flip phone. This led him to…

Topics

Phones

Apple’s foldable iPhone could greet you like you’re the main character

iPhone Duo launch could bring a personalised first-boot greeting

Electronics, Phone, Mobile Phone

Apple could add a personal touch to its upcoming iPhone Duo launch, letting buyers see their names on the screen the first time they turn on their new phones. According to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, Apple retail stores in the US will have a system to customise the device’s initial greeting, so it displays a message such as “Hello, Mark” instead of the usual generic welcome.

https://twitter.com/markgurman/status/2108679134872490044?s=20

Phones

Want the iPhone Duo for much less? AT&T has a massive trade-in deal

AT&T is offering up to $1,200 off the iPhone Duo with an eligible trade-in

iPhone Duo

We are just days away from the Apple iPhone Duo going on pre-order, but recent reports suggest customers aren't keen to spend extra on smartphones this year. If the $1,999 price tag of the foldable made you wince too, AT&T is offering to take a massive chunk of that price off for its customers.

The carrier says new and existing customers can get up to $1,200 off Apple’s first foldable with an eligible trade-in. Pre-orders begin Friday, October 16, while general availability kicks off on October 23.

Phones

The iPhone Duo has developers going wild, and I’m loving their creations

The fold is becoming iOS developer's new playground

iPhone Duo Duo-Man Featured

I've had a lot of fun downloading dumb apps back in the day. They were often unpolished, buggy, and downright useless. Even then, they were charming and often built around a single concept. You don't get that same feeling with new games or apps on newer phones. Things have a higher production quality and are more polished. This is not always true, but the OG comparisons are apps that turned iPhones into virtual lighters, beer glasses, musical instruments, and the like.

Somewhere along the way, that experimental spirit took a back seat. We've got brilliant software today, which makes me miss those early App Store days even more. But surprisingly enough, Apple's new iPhone Duo is bringing some of that creativity back. The phone hasn't even reached stores, and developers are already making me nostalgic for that wonderfully weird era of smartphone apps.