As anyone who has used it can attest, live captioning on Google Pixel phones is a big deal. Not only is it great for journalists who need to transcribe lengthy interviews, but it is even better for deaf users, who can see spoken conversations being converted to text in real time. While this feature is not yet available on all Android devices, Samsung's two newest models, the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy S20, will soon have the technology available.

At Samsung's Unpacked event in San Francisco, Hiroshi Lockheimer, a senior vice president at Google, detailed how Android will work in harmony with the latest Galaxy phones. While the live captioning was arguably the biggest announcement, there were two other notable developments in Samsung's new handsets: an API for the foldable Z Flip and improved Google app integration for both models.

Google also discussed 5G integration in Android devices, but did not say more than the usual platitudes about how 5G will improve mobile communication, productivity, and entertainment. once both the Z Flip and S20 are fully operational, 5G network will be available, not to mention the fact that the Z Flip and S20 will have access to the 5G network.

First and foremost, live captioning is a technology Google introduced with the Pixel 4. This feature transcribes words during real-time conversations, either in real life or in video chats.

While live captioning is not unique to Google, the Pixel is the first phone to offer this technology as an integrated part of its software rather than a third-party app. Live captioning is almost instantaneous, surprisingly accurate (compared to similar programs), and runs directly on the device, without requiring an Internet connection. Hopefully, introducing this feature to Samsung devices is only the first step before introducing it to sufficiently powerful Android devices.

Google also plans to make the Z-Flip API and software building tools available to developers. Apps developed for one Android device will usually work on most other Android devices, but not necessarily on folding screens. Therefore, Google wants developers to optimize their apps for both traditional and folding screens. Flip phones may or may not be the next big fad, but Google does not expect them to fade away, at least not in the next year or two.

Finally, Lockheimer announced that the Z Flip and S20 will be natively integrated with the Google Duo app for video chat and will feature an optimized version of YouTube Premium for the Z Flip's unique screen. z Google will also offer a free one-year subscription to YouTube Premium to early Z Flip adopters. Z Flip early adopters will also receive one year of free access to YouTube Premium.

Google's special features for the Z Flip and S20 seem rather tame, but at least live captioning is a useful trick that few other phones have. Whether other handsets will soon follow suit remains to be seen.