Live Translate not working with AirPods Pro 2 on iPhone 15 Pro

Here is the fix.

tldr: Download both languages> translating from and translating to, to make live translation work.

Correct, need to make sure firmware/software is up to date.

open apples translate app. download not only the language you need translated, but also the language you need translated too.

I was just downloading Spanish, but once I opened the translate app, went to setting then languages and downloaded both, my AirPods started working the translate feature. When I only downloaded Spanish I would get a 'set up languages' banner notification.

You need to be on version 8A356 for your AirPod Pro 2s. The tricky thing I learned is you need to have Apple’s Translate app downloaded. I downloaded the languages via my AirPod settings, and when I would hold both stems it would make a sound like it was going to live translate, but until I downloaded the app it would not work.

Where are you? From Apple: "Live Translation with AirPods is not available if users are in the EU and their Apple Account country or region is also in the EU."

So I have the same setup as you and was having this issue trying to get it to translate to French and back. I’ve just solved it for myself by deleting and reinstalling the translate app itself.

before this I was able to download French and English (UK) but never actually select them in the ‘set up live translate’ section of the translate app. It would just allow me to select a language and then immediately close the window leaving me with nothing selected.

If it helps at all, I also downloaded German to see if it was just French having the issue, but I’m pretty certain it was the reinstall that solved it and not what languages I had installed (although some people suggest that may help in some cases).

Ok, It is now working. I don't know if coming back after a few hours helped or not, but now I see a "Live AirPods" icon on the bottom screen of the Translation app. I don't recall seeing this before. Clicking on it, it showed the their and your language selections. It was set to Spanish->English by default which was not working. After changing to Spanish to Germany it was working. Changing back Germany to Spanish then also worked.

I was having the same problem with live translation languages all downloaded but couldn’t get it to work. After reading the threads on here I downloaded US English and it started working without no issues.

Hope this helps

Using the same setup here in the UK. Would not work until I downloaded the US English. With that installed it all started working fine. Could then switch back to UK English.

It is working beautifully now. I didn’t realize the language has to be set up in the Translate app as well. Also, in my case, English has to be set up within the app. After adding Italian and English to the app, the live translate through the AirPods to Pro Max worked perfectly. Very beautiful.

Just spent an hour with Apple Support Chat because Live Translation not working for me (iPhone 15 Pro, IOS 26.0, AirPods 4, UK based).

I finally got escalated to a phone call where the Level 2 technician told me that this was a software issue, already escalated to S/W Engineering and that "lots" of users are experiencing the same issue.

Once I follow _all_ the steps, in the required order (i.e. download several languages via the Translate App, start up a YouTube clip in a foreign language, and press both stems) I just get a message that to use Live (not 'Lyve') Translation I have to download languages - which I have already done!)

So, I am waiting for IOS 26.x once they figure it out.

I’ve found a workaround, set your language to English (US) and not English (UK) then add the language you want translated. Everything suddenly comes alive. The usual Apple fault, doesn’t work..

THIS! 👆👆👆

Thank you, I tried everything, and only after setting my phone's language from English (UK) to English (US) did the correct To and From languages screen show itself in my Translate app.

Using and iPhone 16 Pro Plus with airpod pro 3. I could only get it to work once I downloaded US English. UK English wasn’t enough to get it to live translate from Portuguese to English UK

Open the lid on your AirPods and look at them in settings to check the software version. Close the lid, put them on the charger, and then wait 30 minutes.

I noticed the same on the website, I think it’s just out of date since the new version just released.

Hi everyone,

I’m in the same situation. I have an iPhone 16 Pro Max and AirPods Pro 2, both running the latest versions of iOS and firmware. I even made sure my AirPods were updated to the newest software. I’ve got AI features turned on, and I’ve downloaded all the languages in the Translate app.

So far though, I can’t figure out how to get Live Translate working. I don’t see any setting for it under the AirPods settings in iOS. When I try holding both stems of the AirPods Pro 2 at the same time (the way Apple showed it in the demo), nothing happens except noise cancellation toggling on and off.

From what I can tell, it doesn’t seem like AirPods Pro 2 support the feature yet, even though Apple mentioned it would be part of iOS 26. I also have AirPods 3 Pro on order, so I’m curious if maybe that’s when the feature will officially roll out — and hopefully AirPods Pro 2 will get it at the same time.

I was able to download Spanish and American English and get it to work. Then it quit working. Disconnected/reconnected AirPods and downloaded UK English. Spanish translation to American English worked. Now it has quit working again.