Support

Bilingual / Co-Presenting Setup

If you’re presenting alongside a translator, or you and a co-presenter speak different languages, SpeakerView can show your original text and a translated version side by side — both updating together as you navigate.

How it works, at a high level

You write and import your speech in your own language as usual. Then you translate it, on your device, into a second language. During the presentation, you can show either just your language, or a split view with both languages on screen together — useful if a translator is reading alongside you from the same device or a shared screen.

Translation happens entirely on-device using Apple’s built-in Translation feature — no internet connection is required once a language has been downloaded once, and your speech content is never sent to any server. See What Data Does SpeakerView Collect?.

Step-by-step setup

  1. Import your speech in your primary language first. See Importing a Speech File.
  2. On the home screen, tap Translate Cards.
  3. Choose the language your co-presenter or translator will read. A few common languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin) are pinned at the top for quick access; tap “All Languages” section below for the full list — see Supported Languages for Translation.
  4. Tap Translate. SpeakerView translates every card. This typically takes just a few seconds, unless it’s the first time you’ve used that language and it needs to download the language model (see below).
  5. You’re returned to the home screen, now showing that a translation is ready.
  6. Tap Start Presentation as normal.

If you decide you don’t need translation after all, tap “Skip — present without translation” at the bottom of the translate screen.

Using split view during the presentation

Once you’ve translated your cards, a split-view icon (two rectangles side by side) appears in the top-right corner of the presentation screen. Tap it to show your original text and the translated text together, split across the screen. Tap it again to return to showing just one language at a time. You can toggle this at any point during your presentation — it doesn’t reset your position in the speech.

Important: download the language ahead of time if you’ll be offline

The very first time you translate into a given language, iOS needs to download that language’s translation model, which requires Wi-Fi. If you’re preparing for a talk somewhere without reliable internet, translate a test card into your target language while you still have Wi-Fi (even days ahead of time) — after that first download, translation works completely offline.

Tips for working with a live translator

  • Agree on the split-view layout beforehand so your translator knows what they’ll see on the shared screen.
  • If your translator is reading from their own device, note that SpeakerView doesn’t currently sync page position between two separate phones — the translator would need to follow your pacing, or you’d navigate a shared device together.
  • Re-translate after any edits. If you go back and change your original .txt file and re-import it, you’ll need to re-translate — see Importing a Speech File for why translations don’t carry over automatically.

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