A recent post on social media has indicated that Samsung is working on a big improvement for Live Captioning with Galaxy AI.
The post in question comes from Galaxy Techie, who posted on X about a new Galaxy AI feature called Voice Captioning. Like Live Captions, this feature will convert speech from calls, videos and live conversations into text.
However, Voice Captioning separates itself is by being able to translate and summarize the captions in real time.
Currently, Samsung's version of Live Captioning will only transcribe voices into the language they are spoken in. Meanwhile, if you have a Pixel phone like the Pixel 9 Pro, you can enable a Live Translate feature, which quickly converts captions into another chosen language in real time. The addition of this feature on Samsung phones would undoubtedly be a lifesaver for holiday goers with the best Samsung phones.
Unfortunately, this feature is reportedly only officially available in China, and there's no indication of when it could come to other markets. However, you can download the APK onto your device if it's running One UI 7 or One UI 8. A Google Drive link for the APK is available in Galaxy Techie's X thread.
Once it's installed, you only need to add the Voice Captioning shortcut to your phone’s quick settings panel and allow all of the necessary permissions.
Before you download the file, however, there are a couple of things to note. Firstly, as reported by Android Authority, the APK version of the feature is far from stable and repeatedly crashes. On top of that, Reddit threads indicate that the file doesn't always work with the One UI 8 beta.
There's also the inherent risk of sideloading apps on Android phones. So proceed with installing the APK at your own risk. We would also always caution anyone when downloading an online file to make sure their phone is secure.
Make sure you have one of the best antivirus apps to keep your data safe. The best VPNs are also worth having, even if they won't protect you from any software you willingly install.
The Galaxy S26 could improve NFC payments too
It isn’t just One UI 8 features that could make life easier, as another rumor has revealed a big quality-of-life improvement for the Galaxy S26. According to a recent report from ET News, several industry sources have claimed that Samsung is planning to add a new NFC antenna to the top of the Galaxy S26.
Currently, Samsung phones only have a single NFC coil, which is placed just below the camera module. However, the placement can vary slightly, with the Galaxy S25 Ultra’s coil closer to the middle of the phone, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra has it sit slightly higher. This can make it annoying to use the phones to pay, usually leading to having to hold them at odd angles.
This single placement is odd, as other Android devices have multiple coil placements. All while iPhones only need you to place the top half of the phone on the scanner.
Supposedly, part of the problem Samsung had was that Apple holds several patents related to NFC payments, forcing Samsung to find new solutions.
It should be noted that there are indications that Samsung hasn't finalized the overall design of the Galaxy S26 yet, so it is possible that the company could scrap the new coil placement.
We'll have to wait for Samsung to officially announce the device to see what changes are coming. While we don't have a set release date yet, Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked events usually occur at the start of the year, with wider phone releases happening around two weeks later.
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