TapSay | A travel phrasebook for your phone

Why TapSay was created

It started with a trip to China

When we landed in China, we couldn't get the airport Wi-Fi to work. There was an internet booth that was supposed to give us access after scanning our passports and boarding passes, but that didn't work either. We tried the shops, but there were no SIM cards to buy. We ended up stuck at the airport for hours without internet.

We hadn't expected to have so much trouble getting connected. It was a frustrating start and affected our experience of the trip.

As we travelled around China, we had to use phone translators almost all the time. They helped us communicate, but using them so much wasn't an enjoyable part of the trip. I wanted an easier way to talk to people.

I started making TapSay for my own travels. I wanted useful phrases on the go, when I needed them, and a simpler way to communicate using my phone while travelling. Then I decided to share it, because I thought other travellers might find it useful too.

I'm still working on it. There are bugs to fix and more things I'd like to add. If you try it, I'd really appreciate hearing what you think. Your feedback helps me make it better.

I also see TapSay as a simple way to learn the sentences you're most likely to use. Listen to their pronunciation, practise saying them and save your favourites so they're easy to find. Romanisation and pronunciation guides are also available for supported phrases. This reading help is currently designed for English readers.

Paweł, the maker of TapSay

What's inside

What you can do with TapSay

614 phrases · 24 situation decks · 9 home layouts

We've brought together phrases and tools for the things you often need while travelling.

Offline first

The phrasebook works offline. In the Android app, download translation models and available local voices. Offline microphone support depends on your phone and language.

Spanish phrasebook translation marked offline

Face-to-face Talk

Each person has their own half of the screen and microphone button. Sit opposite each other and put the phone between you.

English and Spanish conversation in face-to-face split view

Emergency & allergy cards

Save your blood type, medication and contacts. Allergy cards show crossed-out food symbols with translated labels. Always confirm important details with a person.

Emergency card with crossed-out allergy symbols

Menu decoder

Look up 150 food words, including allergens, in English or the local language. You can also hear them spoken.

Numbers & prices

Enter an amount to see it written in the language you choose and hear how to say it.

Numbers and prices keypad showing 25 in Spanish

Easy to read and use

Tap a phrase to hear it, or show it in large text. You can adjust the text size, and you do not need an account.

Create your own phrases

Save the words you actually use, with their meaning and pronunciation. Organise them into your own topics.

Custom phrase editor with Spanish text, English meaning and pronunciation

Create your own topics

Group phrases for your trip, café stops or daily routine. Name each topic and give it an icon.

User-created My café stops topic in Categories

Favourites, one tap away

Keep your most useful phrases on the main screen so they are quick and easy to find.

Main screen with a custom Spanish phrase in Favourites

Phrases for each situation

Find useful phrases for airports, taxis, hotels and restaurants in 24 situation decks.

TapSay Situations screen with Airport, Taxi, Hotel and Restaurant decks

Talking to someone

Choose a language for each person

Talk splits the screen into two halves. One faces you and the other is turned around for the person opposite. You each have your own microphone button and can scroll through the conversation in your own language.

Sit opposite each other. Place the phone lengthwise between you
Each person taps the microphone at their own end; the translation appears on the other half
Both histories scroll independently during the conversation
Choose any pair of the 26 languages, including English

See it in the web app

TapSay Talk showing an example English and Spanish conversation on both halves of the screen — Split-screen conversation in TapSay Talk

Using TapSay

For conversations while travelling

You can use Talk at a gathering or during a journey. Sit opposite each other, choose your languages and take turns using the microphone at your end.

Illustrative home gathering with people chatting around a phone on the table — **At a gathering**Use the microphone at your end of the phone.

Illustrative travel scene: two travellers seated opposite each other using a phone at a train table with an alpine view — **During a journey**Each person reads the half facing them.

Before you travel

What works without internet?

The phrasebook, spoken playback and live Talk have different requirements. We recommend checking your chosen languages before you leave.

Install & enable
Open the website once to cache the phrasebook, or install the Android beta. Ready-made phrase translations do not need live translation.
Download once, over Wi-Fi or mobile data
For free-text translation in the Android app, enable on-device translation and download models for your languages. For speech playback, install local voices through your phone's speech engine.
Check before you leave
Test in airplane mode. Fully offline Talk also needs on-device speech recognition for both languages; this is not available for every phone or language.

Website and Android app: the website's free-text translation and voice conversations need internet. Installing it on your Home Screen does not change that. The Android app can translate free text offline after setup; fully offline Talk additionally needs supported offline recognition and local voices.

A quick look

A look inside the app

Main screen: pinned phrases, essentials and favourites in Spanish on the light home layout — Phrases on the main screen

Face-to-face Talk: a full back-and-forth English-Spanish conversation shown on both halves of the split screen — An example Talk conversation

Settings layout picker listing nine home layout options and six themes — Nine home layouts

Translate screen: typing "Where is the toilet?" and getting Spanish with pronunciation, marked offline from the phrasebook — A translation from the offline phrasebook

Menu decoder showing Spanish food and allergen words with English translations — Food and allergen words

Emergency card showing selected allergies as large crossed-out symbols with Spanish and English labels — Allergy symbols on the emergency card

Sentence builder combining the pattern "Where is…?" with the word "the pharmacy" into the Spanish sentence ¿Dónde está la farmacia? — The sentence builder

Show mode: a phrase shown in very large Spanish text, with flip, speak and reply buttons — Large text to show someone

Dietary requirements card written in the local language for restaurant staff — Dietary card for restaurants

Situations screen with tiles for Airport, Taxi, Hotel, Restaurant and more — 24 situation decks

Who it's for

Set it up the way you prefer

Larger text and buttons

Increase the text size up to 130%. Use the playback buttons or show a phrase in large text if that is easier to read.

Try it in your browser

Open the web app, choose a language and try a few phrases. There is no sign-up and no need to install the Android app first.

Keep useful phrases nearby

Save phrases to Favourites or pin them to the top of your home screen so you can find them quickly.

Make it yours

Choose your layout and theme

There are nine home layouts and six themes. You can change the text size and spacing, hide or reorder topics, and choose which phrases to keep on your home screen.

Get TapSay

Join the free beta

You can try TapSay for free while we develop it. We will post new Android builds here as they are ready.

Android · beta APK

Install the Android beta

Try the latest Android prototype. Pre-release beta for testing. Android 7 or newer. Version 2.1.0-beta.7 · 40.6 MB.

Download Android beta

How to install the beta

Download on your Android phone and open the APK. Android may ask you to allow installation from this browser. Only allow it for this install, and keep your existing app data backed up. Future builds will be posted here.

This is a debug beta, not a Google Play release. Bugs and incorrect translations are possible. Verify important information independently, especially allergies and medical instructions. TapSay must not be your only safety check.

Web · works today, even on iPhone

Open the web app

Nothing to install. Add it to your Home Screen and it behaves like an app. Phrases and browsing work offline once cached; free-text translation needs internet in the browser.

Open tapsay-eka.pages.dev

Best on Chrome and Safari. Microphone support depends on your browser.

iOS · planned

App Store version

We plan to work on the iOS app after the Android beta. For now, iPhone users can try the web app and add it to their Home Screen.

If you use an iPhone, we would like to hear how it works for you. You can send feedback below.

TapSay is still a beta and translations can be wrong. Please verify important information, especially allergies and medical instructions.

Tell us what you think

Your feedback means a lot to us

We genuinely believe TapSay is a good app idea, and we want to make it better.

Bug reports, ideas for new features and your general thoughts are all welcome. If you try the app, we would really appreciate hearing what you think.

We have more ideas and features planned that aren't in the app yet. Your feedback helps us decide what to build next and what needs fixing.

Questions

Frequently asked

Does it really work offline?

The ready-made phrasebook works offline: bundled in the Android app and cached after a first visit to the website. Local voice playback needs installed offline voices. The Android app can translate free text with downloaded language models. Fully offline Talk also needs supported on-device recognition for both languages. Test your chosen languages in airplane mode before relying on them. Website free-text translation and Talk need internet.

Which languages are included?

English, Polish, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Ukrainian, Turkish, Korean, Indonesian, Greek, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Czech, Romanian and Malay. You can choose any of these 26 languages for either side of Talk.

How much does it cost?

Nothing while in beta. The app has no ads and no account.

Is my data private?

Saved favourites, custom phrases and emergency cards stay on your device. Online translation sends the text to the selected provider; browser speech recognition may use the browser maker's service. Feedback is optional and sends your message through the feedback service. This marketing website uses no analytics or cookies.

Can I trust the translations?

Translations can contain mistakes, including serious ones. Live translation quality and accuracy depend on the translation engine or provider in use. Your device, speech engine, installed language support and background noise also affect how accurately your spoken words are captured. Even when speech is captured correctly, the translation can still be wrong.

Built-in phrase translations are stored in TapSay and do not improve just because you change your device or engine. They are machine-drafted and still need native-speaker review.

Verify allergies, medical information and other important details with a qualified person. Symbols reinforce the message but do not guarantee safe food or care.

When is the iOS app coming?

We plan to work on it after the Android beta. We do not have a release date yet. In the meantime, you can use the web app on an iPhone.