# Message app that translates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-app-that-translates/981076 "2023-03-12T18:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-app-that-translates/981076/1 "2023-03-12T18:31:11Z")
Does anyone know of an app (free or paid) that you can use for texting and will automatically translate from English to Spanish and vice versa? I’m texting a woman I met at work but she speaks less English than I do Spanish. So I have to copy her texts into Google Translate, then tap my reply and c&p the translation into Messages. This is fine as I’ll do whatever it takes to talk to her, but it would be so much faster if I could just type and send. Translate has a conversation link but it seems to be audio only. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-app-that-translates/981076/2 "2023-03-12T21:15:06Z")
WeChat will translate a foreign language text you receive into the set language for your device, but it is not automatic; you need to long press on the text and select translate. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-app-that-translates/981076/3 "2023-03-12T21:25:28Z")
I think Facebook already does this depending on the users language setting. When My GF responds to family she has in Mexico in Spanish and I see them, it gives me an option to translate them into English. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-app-that-translates/981076/4 "2023-03-13T00:09:49Z")
Does the other person need the same app or is it cross platform? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-app-that-translates/981076/5 "2023-03-13T00:10:57Z")
I think it does, but I’m looking for something that doesn’t involve going on FB. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-app-that-translates/981076/6 "2023-03-13T16:00:41Z")
This isn’t a direct answer, but if you’re currently doing all of this on your phone, have you tried using a computer to text? That can at least make the routine a bit faster. On iOS you can just use iMessages. On Android you can use [messages.google.com](http://messages.google.com) and you might be able to combine it with a [Chrome extension](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-translate/aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb) to make the translation (still manual) a bit quicker? ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/message-app-that-translates/981076/7 "2023-03-14T03:01:16Z")
It’s not automatic, but if you’re using an iOS device you can select what she wrote in Spanish and tap the “Translate” button into English. Then you type in English to her, select what you typed, tap “Translate,” then (having already selected Spanish as the translation language) tap “Replace with Translation,” then send. That seems to be slightly less work than what you’re doing now.