What it does
RTranslator is an Android app for translating conversations as they happen. Its speech recognition and translation models run on the phone itself, so the app works offline and the developer says it collects no personal data and runs no server. On first launch it downloads about 1.2 GB of models. Conversation mode connects two or more phones that have the app. Each person's speech is turned into text, sent to the other phone, translated into that person's language and read aloud, including through a Bluetooth headset. Walkie-talkie mode works on a single phone for quick exchanges, listening in two chosen languages and translating in turns. A text mode works as a standard text translator. The page lists around 30 supported languages, with more available at lower quality when enabled in settings. Spoken output uses the phone's own text-to-speech engine. The page says a phone with at least 6 GB of RAM is needed, that the app is still in beta, and that version 3.0 lets users pick between several translation models. The developer accepts donations, version 3.0 is funded through the NGI Mobifree Fund, and the repository carries an Apache-2.0 licence.
Capabilities
- Translation and speech recognition models run on the device, with offline use
- Conversation mode links several phones, with Bluetooth headset support
- Walkie-talkie mode for quick two-person exchanges on one phone
- Text translation mode
- Around 30 supported languages, plus more at lower quality
- Free, with no ads and no personal data collected
When to use it
- You travel or work where there is no reliable internet connection
- You want to talk with someone in another language using phones or Bluetooth headphones
- Privacy matters and you do not want audio sent to a cloud service
- You want to inspect or build on open-source translation code
