William Gallagher
Users of iOS 18.4 or iPadOS 18.4 worldwide can now switch their default translation app from Apple's stock one to Google's. Here's how to do it.
Apple introduced the ability to change default email and browsers with iOS 14 back in 2020. It subsequently added more options until in iOS 18.2, it included Messages and others.
But from iOS 18.4 in March 2025 Apple added the option to change the default translation app. Now according to the app's release notes in the App Store, Google Translate users can take advantage of this.
It's not clear what Google had to do to its app to enable this, but Apple documentation does say that developers have to specifically support the feature. So far, Google Translate is the only third-party app to have added such support, meaning only it and Apple Translate are available.
How to switch to Google Translate as the default translation app on iPhone
- Go to Settings
- Choose Apps at the bottom of the screen
- Tap on Default Apps
- Choose Translation
- Tick to switch to Google Translate
Apple has been under increasing pressure to allow users to select alternative default apps, especially from the European Union. However, this new change to iOS and iPadOS is immediately effective worldwide.
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9 Comments
I have Google Translate on my phone, but only the Apple Translate app shows up as an option. I am using an iPhone 16 Pro Max with iOS 18.5.
I have Google Translate and iOS 18.5 on my iPhone 16 Pro. Like jagrahax
5
For the other commenters, the reason Google Translate does not appear, is that it was only updated this morning, so update all apps and try again. For me, something very strange is happening here. I've just updated my iPhone SE3 to 18.5, and updated all my apps (including Google Translate), but when I go to the default apps as stated above, I see Google Translate selected as the default translation app. When I click on it to see options, the normal default Apple Translate app does not appear, only Google Translate, so of course it's selected as the default. Huh? Is there a toggle in Apple Translate to enable it? I'm in Canada, so is that the problem?
The app shows up for me as an option. But it's not clear to me how this actually gets used or integrated into iOS. I asked Siri for a translation and it didn't appear to use Google.