As part of the Digital Markets Act, European legislation has removed several barriers to the digital market. For iPhone and iPad users, this has been taking shape for several months, with the opportunity, among other things, to set third-party apps as default instead of those provided by Apple.
Alternatives are gradually emerging. At the end of March, for example, we mentioned the arrival of WhatsApp as the default messaging and calling app. In April, iOS 18.4 continued this momentum by allowing third-party apps to be assigned for navigation, multimedia playback, and translation. It's this last point that interests us here, with Google Translate proposing to supplant Apple's proposal.
Google Translate becomes selectable by default on iOS
The mention appears in black and white in the description of what's new in version 9.8.011 of Google Translate / Google Traduction, which was released on May 19.
The section devoted to What's New mentions a banal "bug fixes and usability improvements", but above all this: "You can now set Google Translate as the default translation app on iOS and iPadOS 18.4 and later. To do this, go to the Settings app > Apps > Default Apps > Translate, then select Google Translate."
The message has the merit of being clear, as does the procedure. Once set as the default translation app, Google Translate replaces Apple's native app, simply called Translate, and activates for all system translation requests.
A free alternative
Free, Google Translate claims to support 249 languages. The app allows you to translate text entered on the keyboard, as well as text captured by the camera in real time. It also offers an offline mode, provided you have previously downloaded the relevant languages.
Although this change stems from a framework imposed by the European Union, Apple is making this option available worldwide, without geographical restrictions. Finally, even though apps like DeepL, Microsoft Translator or iTranslate are available on iOS, only Google Translate can currently replace Translate as the default translation app within this ecosystem.
Source: Google
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