Tingdong for Android
Google Live Caption vs Tingdong on Android
If the sound plays on your phone, use Live Caption. If people are talking in the room, Tingdong captions them and translates into your language.
Free trial · No account or card
Needs an internet connection · Android 12 or later
Google’s Live Caption, on supported Android phones, captions “media like videos, podcasts, phone calls, video calls, and audio messages” on the phone itself, and Google says captions are “never stored”; on Pixel 6 and later it can translate them. Tingdong for Android listens through the microphone instead, so it does not caption a video or a call on the same phone. It captions the people around you, at a meeting, a lecture or a face-to-face conversation, in the original and in your language, and saves each session on your phone. It needs an internet connection. Google’s facts are from its help page, read 24 October 2026.
Updated 2026-10-24
| Google Live Caption | Tingdong for Android | |
|---|---|---|
| What it captions | Sound playing on your phone: “media like videos, podcasts, phone calls, video calls, and audio messages” | People speaking around you, through the microphone; not sound playing on the phone |
| Translation | With Live Translate, “only available on Pixel 6+ devices” | Into the language you choose, 60 languages, on any phone with Android 12 or later |
| Where it runs | On the phone: Google says captions are “never stored, and never leave your device”; Wi-Fi once to download the default language pack | On a streaming speech service: needs mobile data or Wi-Fi while it listens |
| Phone and video calls | Captions calls “on Pixel and selected Android phones” | No: it can’t caption phone calls, and an incoming call interrupts the session |
| Languages | Depends on the phone: English only on Pixel 2 and 3; seven languages on Pixel 4 and 5 and selected phones; a longer list on Pixel 6 and later | 60 languages, the same on every phone |
| Saved transcripts | None: captions are “never stored” | Every session saved on your phone; export as TXT, Markdown, SRT or VTT |
| Face-to-face conversation | Not stated on their site | Conversation: tap “I speak”, then “I’m done”, and Tingdong reads your words aloud in the other person’s language |
| Price | Not stated on their site | Free trial, no account or card; then a plan through Google Play |
Where a row says on the phone or without a connection, that is Google’s or Samsung’s feature: Tingdong runs recognition and translation on a streaming speech service, not on your phone, so it needs an internet connection. Why we made that trade is on one page: why not on the device, and why it costs money.
Which one should you use?
Pick Live Caption if the sound plays on your phone: a video, a podcast, a voice message or a call. Live Caption runs on the phone and keeps working with no connection once its language pack is downloaded. Pick Tingdong if the speech is in the room with you, at a meeting, a lecture or a talk with someone who speaks another language, and you want it translated into your language and saved as a transcript.
Sources
The facts about Google’s and Samsung’s features come from these pages, read 24 October 2026: Google: Live Caption: Caption media & calls on your device; Google: Use Live Transcribe; Samsung US: Use Live Caption and Live Transcribe on your Galaxy device.
Frequently asked questions
Can Tingdong caption a video playing on my Android phone?
No. Tingdong for Android listens through the microphone, so it hears the people around you, not the sound of other apps on the same phone. For a video, a podcast or a voice message on your phone, use Live Caption.
Can Live Caption translate?
On some phones. Google says translated captions need Live Translate, “only available on Pixel 6+ devices”, with the options “Ask to translate”, “Automatically translate” and “Don’t translate”. Tingdong translates on any phone with Android 12 or later, but only speech it hears through the microphone.
Does Tingdong caption phone calls?
No. Tingdong for Android does not caption phone calls, and an incoming call interrupts the session. Google says Live Caption captions calls on Pixel and selected Android phones.
What’s the difference between Live Caption and Live Transcribe?
Live Caption captions sound playing on your phone; Live Transcribe captions people talking around it, through the microphone, in the language they speak. Tingdong listens the way Live Transcribe does, and also translates. Live Transcribe vs Tingdong.
Does Tingdong work offline?
No. Without an internet connection, Tingdong does not caption or translate. Live Caption runs on the phone and keeps working once its language pack is downloaded.
Try it on your Android phone
Free trial · No account or card · Android 12 or later
On a Mac or a Windows PC? Tingdong for Mac and Windows captions what your computer plays, and on the Mac, your calls.