- Google is rolling out phone calls with live captions for Pixel phones outside of the Pixel 4a.
- Previous phone owners can get live transcriptions of voice chats, including apps that are only available over the internet.
- It's still only available in English.
You don't have to buy a Pixel 4a to get live caption for phone calls.
XDA developer learned that Google is running the advanced Live Caption feature on older Pixel devices, including the Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, and Pixel 4. If you have them, you can go to Live Caption settings to enable a feature for captioning calls. When you turn it on, your phone can either automatically create subtitles or ask you every time.
We asked Google to comment on the rollout. There have been no reports of Pixel 2 owners seeing Live Caption yet, but it could get the feature if the phone lineup already includes the standard feature.
See also: This is how Android 10's live labeling works
The feature uses a combination of machine learning systems to transcribe each voice conversation. In other words, you can create a searchable record of an important call. The focus is on phone calls but can also apply to voice chats from many messaging services like WhatsApp.
It is not certain when call transcriptions will reach third-party phones with Live Caption support, such as: B. the Galaxy S20 family or newer OnePlus devices. Support for other languages is also a mystery. It can be a long time before you can simply assume that you have access. However, this starts the process and it can only be a matter of when you get call signatures as if you get them at all.