Translation Setup Guide

Translation is Spun's most-asked-about feature. This guide covers all 4 translation modes and how to configure each.

The 4 Translation Modes

Mode	What it does	Where to set it	Cost
Per-chat text	Auto-translates all messages in a conversation	Globe icon → Messages tab	~300 tokens/msg
One-off translate	Translate a single message on demand	Right-click message → Translate	~200 tokens
Voice-to-voice	Record in your language, send in theirs	Globe icon → Audio tab	~500-1000 tokens
Translation Rooms	Live multilingual video calls	Video call icon	Continuous token use

Mode 1: Per-chat auto-translate (most common)

This is what most users want — "translate everything automatically in this chat."

Setup

1. Open any chat conversation.
2. Click the globe icon (🌐) in the chat header.
3. Go to the Messages tab.
4. Configure:
   • "Translate messages to" — incoming messages auto-translate to this language
   • "Translate my messages to" — your outgoing messages auto-translate before sending

Important behaviors

• Original preserved — tap "Show original" on any translated message
• Per-viewer — in shared inboxes, each team member sees their own language
• Toggle anytime — translation activates instantly, no reload needed
• History not re-translated — only new messages going forward

Example

You speak English. Your client speaks Hebrew. Set "Translate messages to" = English. Set "Translate my messages to" = Hebrew. Now: you type in English → client receives in Hebrew. Client replies in Hebrew → you see it in English.

Mode 2: One-off translation

For translating a single message without setting up per-chat:

1. Right-click (or long-press) any message.
2. Select "Translate" from the context menu.
3. Choose target language.
4. Translation appears inline below the original.

Mode 3: Voice-to-voice

Record a voice message in your language, Spun translates and sends as audio in the recipient's language.

Setup

1. Open the chat → click the globe icon (🌐).
2. Go to the Audio tab.
3. Set:
   • "Record voice in" = your spoken language
   • "Send voice in" = recipient's language
   • "Hear voice in" = your preferred language for incoming audio

How it works

1. Record a voice message normally (hold mic button).
2. Spun processes: Speech → Text → Translate → Text-to-Speech.
3. Preview the translated audio before sending.
4. Tap send → recipient hears in their language.

Tips

• Speak clearly with minimal background noise.
• Preview catches errors — re-record if the translation sounds wrong.
• Incoming voice messages get auto-translated if "Hear voice in" is set.

Mode 4: Translation Rooms

Real-time multilingual video calls — each participant speaks their language and hears others dubbed.

1. Open any chat → click the video call icon.
2. Select "Start Translation Room".
3. Each participant sets their spoken language.
4. Speak naturally — ~2-3 second delay for dubbed audio.

Participant limits

Plan	Max participants
Free/Basic	2
Pro	10
Power	50

Supported languages

Spun supports 28+ languages for text translation, with voice-to-voice available for the top 15 languages by quality.

Common questions

"My messages aren't translating" → Check the globe icon settings for that specific chat. Translation is per-chat, not global.

"Can I set a default language for all new chats?" → Not yet — set per contact. The system remembers your settings for each contact.

"How many tokens does translation use?" → ~300 per text message, ~500-1000 per voice message. See AI Pipeline for details.

Related

• Translation Flow (concept) — architecture diagram
• Chat Language Settings — feature reference
• Voice Translate — feature reference
• Multilingual Business (use case) — real-world scenario