Google Translate is working on new widgets — but not the ones we wanted

Source: Android Authority

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

TL;DR

• Google Translate currently offers 2 Android widgets, and appears to be working on 5 more.
• The new widgets are basically just single‑purpose shortcuts to features within the Translate app.
• Google’s current implementation is a little wonky, making us think these are still very much works in progress.

Current Google Translate Widgets

Right now, Google Translate offers a choice of two widgets:

1. General‑purpose widget – lets you jump into the app for text, speech, conversation, or image translation.
2. History widget – gives you quick access to your recent translation history.

New Widgets in Development

With Google’s version 10.5.41.867546197.0‑release of Translate for Android, developers have implemented five new widgets, each offering a shortcut into a different corner of the app. None of these are currently visible to users, but an early look shows:

• Camera shortcut – opens the camera translation mode.
• Live Translate shortcut – launches the live‑translate feature.
• Practice shortcut – takes you to the language‑practice section.
• Two additional widgets that duplicate functionality already present in the main Translate widget.

Observations

• The new widgets are extremely basic, feeling more like the shortcuts you can place by long‑pressing the app icon rather than full‑featured widgets.
• Although they appear tiny at first glance, they are implemented as larger 2 × 2 tile entities, which can look awkward on the home screen.
• This implementation feels like a downgrade compared to existing app shortcuts, but it’s likely these are still work‑in‑progress and may be refined before any public release.

Your Feedback

What kind of functionality would you like to see from a Google Translate widget? Share your wish‑list in the comments.

⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work‑in‑progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.