Update 1 (05/14/2020 @ 04:48 AM ET): Screenshot of the upcoming "Save Transcript" feature in Google Translate has surfaced. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on May 12, 2020, is preserved below.
Earlier this year in March, Google finally rolled out real-time translation in Google Translate which allows users to record speech in one language and have them translated on your phone in near real-time. The feature, called Transcribe, differs from Google Translate's older transcription feature that required you to input text or voice and then wait for the translation. However, despite its usefulness, the feature surprisingly didn't allow users to save transcripts. But that might change soon, as a teardown of the latest version of Google Translate (v6.8.0) has revealed code which suggests that Google is working to include a save transcripts feature in the app.
An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.
Once live, the save transcripts option in the real-time translation feature will bring up a prompt that will alert users to save their transcripts after the translation is completed. The new strings of code also reveal that users will be able to delete saved transcripts, rename them, and view all saved transcripts. In case a user tries to exit the Transcribe feature without saving the transcript, the app will also push an alert that states: "If you exit Transcribe, you will lose your current unsaved transcript. Are you sure you want to exit?"
<string name="delete_transcript">Delete transcript?</string>
<string name="hint_save_transcript">Name</string>
<string name="msg_delete_transcript">Are you sure to delete the transcript \"%s\"?</string>
<string name="msg_exit_session_transcribe">If you exit Transcribe, you will lose your current unsaved transcript. Are you sure you want to exit?</string>
<string name="rename_transcript">Rename transcript</string>
<string name="save_transcript">Save transcript</string>
<string name="saved_transcript_title">Saved transcripts</string>
Additionally, a few other strings hint at an upcoming option that will let you choose the audio input source for the real-time translation feature. With this option, users will be able to select either their phone's microphone or the headset microphone for the real-time translation.
<string name="label_listen_choose_microphone">Choose microphone</string>
<string name="label_listen_headset_microphone">Headset</string>
<string name="label_listen_phone_microphone">Phone</string>
In terms of user-facing changes, Google Translate v6.8.0 adds a new COVID-19 card that will pop up whenever users translate a word related to the ongoing pandemic. As you can see in the screenshot below, translating the word coronavirus brings up the new card which includes a hyperlink to help users easily get the latest information on the pandemic.
While the new COVID-19 card is already live on the latest version of Google Translate, we currently have no information on when the other two features will be added to the app. We'll update this post as soon as Google releases the feature in a future version of the app.
Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.
Update: Screenshot of the upcoming Save Transcript feature from Google Translate
Ms. Jane Manchun Wong, known for her reverse-engineering skills, has shared a screenshot showing off the upcoming Save Transcript feature within Google Translate.
This is inline with our findings in the APK Teardown.
Source: @wongmjane