Google Translate could soon borrow another one of Duolingo's best ideas

Google has been gradually turning Translate into more than just a translation app. Last year, the company introduced Practice mode, an AI-powered language learning tool that helps users improve their speaking and listening skills through realistic conversations. It’s designed to act like a free tutor inside the Translate app, making it a compelling alternative to popular language-learning apps like Duolingo.

One of Practice mode’s biggest features is streak tracking, allowing you to see how many consecutive days you’ve practiced. Your streak keeps growing if you complete at least one Practice activity each day. The idea is very similar to how Streaks work on Duolingo and encourages users to build a daily learning habit.

Now, it seems Google is testing a new feature to help users keep an eye on their daily learning streak from their Android device’s home screen.

While digging through the latest version of the Google Translate app (version 10.23.29.934758792.2-release), we discovered that Google is working on a new “Practice streak” widget for Android.

Currently, Google Translate can remind you to practice through notifications. However, notifications are easy to miss or dismiss along with dozens of others. A home screen widget would keep your Google Translate streak visible at all times and serve as a constant reminder to come back and practice.

As shown in the screenshots below, the widget displays your current practice streak in days directly on your home screen. Tapping it launches the Practice mode in Google Translate, making it quick to jump back into a lesson. The widget is also resizable, although there’s very little information to display, so it ends up looking a bit empty when expanded.

While it’s great that Google is thinking of ways to improve Practice mode’s usability, this isn’t an entirely new idea. Duolingo already offers a streak widget on Android that lets users keep an eye on their daily learning streak from the home screen. Google appears to be taking a similar approach by bringing Practice mode streaks front and center on the home screen instead of relying solely on notifications.