Parley is a live conversation translator for travelers, language learners, and anyone who walks into a room where the conversation is happening in a language they do not speak. Drop your phone on the table, point it at the conversation, and Parley listens, writes down what is being said in the other language, translates the text into yours, and optionally reads the translation back to you out loud. Everything runs on your device. Nothing leaves your phone.
How it works. Parley uses the on-device speech transcription and translation models that ship with iPhone. The first time you use a language, the system downloads the model files. After that the entire experience works offline. Use it on a plane, on a train, in a basement restaurant, on a hiking trail, or anywhere the cellular signal disappears.
Twenty-one languages are supported at launch: Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, British English, American English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, European Spanish, Mexican Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Pick any pair as your source and target. The language picker shows a green dot for languages that are ready and a coral dot for the ones that still need a one-time download. A progress ring tells you exactly how far the download has gone.
Two cards, one conversation. The top card shows what the other person is saying in their language as the transcription updates in real time. The bottom card shows the translation in your language in a larger, easier to read serif. One big button. Tap it once to start a session, tap it again to stop. The status line tells you whether the app is preparing, downloading, listening, or idle.
Hands free with AirPods. Pair your AirPods, plug in wired headphones, or use the iPhone speaker. Turn on Speak translation aloud and the translation is read into your ear in real time while you keep listening to the original speaker. The system route picker is built into the audio bar, so you can switch outputs without leaving the app. The microphone source is selectable too, so you can use the iPhone microphone for the cleanest input even while AirPods play the translation.
Works when the screen is off. Parley registers itself as a background audio app, so you can lock the phone, drop it in a pocket or bag, and the live transcription and translation keep running. The session stays alive until you tap stop.
Automatic transcriber selection. Apple ships two different speech recognition model families on iOS. Parley uses the higher quality progressive transcriber for the locales it covers, which includes most Western European languages, and falls back to the wider dictation transcriber for locales including Thai, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Vietnamese, and others. The app picks the right one for the language you chose, automatically and silently. If a language is not supported for live transcription on your particular device, Parley tells you clearly rather than silently failing.
Privacy. Parley does not collect, transmit, store, or share any of the audio it hears or any of the text it transcribes or translates. The audio buffer leaves the microphone, passes through the on-device transcriber, passes through the on-device translation model, and is rendered as text on your screen or as speech through your audio output. There is no account, no sign in, no analytics, no tracking, no ads, and no servers involved at any point. Your conversations stay on your phone.
Language packs are shared with the system Translate app. Downloads are shared between Parley and the system Translate app, so storage is not used twice.
Parley is for the moments when language gets between people. Order a meal. Catch what your tour guide just said. Talk to a relative who never learned your language. Sit through a meeting where the team is debating in their first language. Drop your phone on the table and start talking.
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