Chrome 157 is rolling out to Android with a web API for detecting text language on the device. Google says the update will reach Google Play over the next few days.
The big change
- Websites can use Chrome’s existing language detector on Android as the release rolls out.
- A local model ranks likely languages; detection does not translate the text.
- Google’s older guide cautions that short text can be unreliable.
What changes on a phone
Chrome’s release notes describe on-device, offline-capable detection for web apps. Sites must choose to use it; it does not add a translation button. Chromium says Android reuses the page-translation model, but Android WebView is excluded. The Android release reaches Google Play over days.
From text to an estimate
Google’s earlier developer documentation describes a ranked list of candidate languages and confidence values. An application can use an estimate to select a language-specific moderation model or determine the source language for translation. The result is an estimate, so the developer must decide how to handle uncertainty.
The older desktop-era manual says a model may need downloading on first use, although it may already be present. It documents availability checks and download progress.
Google cautions that single words and very short phrases can be unreliable, and the model does not cover every language. A low-confidence result may need a fallback. The manual predates the Android release and still says desktop only; the newer release notes describe Android support.
A developing web interface
The Web Machine Learning Community Group draft describes an implementation-defined input quota that may be unlimited. It is a draft specification, not proof that Android Chrome implements every provision or has a finite quota.
