Apple has announced that the Live Translations via AirPods feature will still come to the EU with the next update – this is what you need to know about it.
Live translations via AirPods are coming to the EU after all
Live translations allow you to understand someone who speaks a different language than you. For example, if you’re speaking English and someone speaks back to you in French, Siri can tell you what they said in English through your AirPods. The feature works best when both participants in a call are using the feature. If you’re talking to someone who isn’t wearing AirPods, you can get a live transcript in the other person’s language on your iPhone.
Live Translation is available for the AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and the more expensive version of the AirPods 4 (with active noise cancellation). The feature launched in the US and select other countries with iOS 26, but has not been available in the EU until now. According to Apple, this was because additional time was needed to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
From iOS 26.2 beta
The feature can be used in the EU from the first iOS 26.2 beta. It has already been released for developers and a public beta of iOS 26.2 will follow soon. Apple has already indicated that the update will be available to all users in December.
In addition to compatible AirPods, the feature requires an iPhone 15 Pro or newer. You also need to have Apple Intelligence turned on and Apple’s Translation app installed. Dutch is not yet supported, but if you speak English you will soon be able to use the function. Starting from iOS 26.1, Live Translations on AirPods supports the following languages:
- English (US)
- English (UK)
- French (France)
- German (Germany)
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Spanish (Spain)
- Chinese – Simplified (China)
- Chinese – Traditional (China)
- Japanese
- Korean
- Italian
iOS 26 also has a built-in Live Translation feature in the Messages, Phone and FaceTime apps. You don’t need AirPods to use that feature.
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