Your iPhone Messages app has a real-time translation feature — here's how to use it

The iPhone's Messages app has a translation feature built right in that most people never discover. You can enable real-time translations for 20 different languages, and translations appear instantly alongside every message you send and receive.

It's perfect for texting with friends or family who speak a different language, or for gently reinforcing your own language skills through everyday conversation. Plus, it works whether the other person has an iPhone or Android device.

However, you need an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any model released after 2024 to enable this feature. Here's how to turn it on.

How to enable translations

Open Messages and select the conversation you want to translate. Tap the person's name at the top of the screen and toggle on "Automatically Translate."

You'll be prompted to select from 20 available languages. Once enabled, the magic happens automatically — every message you type gets translated beneath it, and incoming messages in your selected language appear with translations instantly below.

It works with anyone, regardless of their setup

The beauty of this feature is that it operates entirely on your phone. The person you're texting doesn't need Apple Intelligence, doesn't need an iPhone, doesn't need anything special on their end.

Android users with Google Messages have their own translation capability, but even if they don't, you'll see translations of whatever language they send to you. This removes the biggest barrier to cross-language texting.

Your iPhone has other translation tools too

Apple actually baked this translation tech into the entire iPhone experience. Beyond texting, the standalone Translate app easily handles spoken audio and lets you point your camera at street signs or menus for instant on-screen translations.

If you are wearing AirPods Pro it gets even better — you can stream live, face-to-face translations directly into your ears. That same real-time translation works instantly during FaceTime and standard phone calls, too.

Best of all, because your iPhone processes everything locally instead of sending it to the cloud, your conversations stay completely private.

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