CoreTalk
Put one phone flat on the table between two people who speak different languages. CoreTalk splits the screen, rotates the far half 180°, and interprets both directions out loud in real time.
CoreTalk
CoreTalk is a face-to-face interpreter for one shared device. It is not a calling app and not a phrasebook. You lay a single phone flat on the table between two people, and it interprets the conversation in both directions.
The screen is split in half. The far half is rotated 180°, so the person across the table reads their side the right way up. Each person speaks their own language; the other hears and reads it in theirs.
One device, two people, in the same room. If the two of you are not in the same place, this is the wrong tool.
How a conversation works
- Choose a language and a voice for each side. The defaults are English and Simplified Chinese.
- Choose a mode:
- Manual — push to talk. Only the side you are holding is listening.
- AI auto — hands-free. Both sides are listening, and each direction decides for itself whether the audio was its language.
- Start. Speak normally.
- What you said appears on your half as text, and is spoken aloud in the other language on the other half, which also shows the translation.
You can switch between Manual and AI auto mid-conversation. Language and voice selection lock while a session is running.
Where to get it
| Platform | Status | Link |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone | Available | App Store |
| Android | Available | Google Play |
The App Store listing is titled CoreTalk: Live Interpreter. It requires iOS 16.0 or later and is an iPhone app — there is no iPad layout. Android requires 8.0 (API 26) or later.
The App Store shows CoreTalk as compatible with Mac and Apple Vision Pro. That is Apple's automatic "iPhone app on Apple silicon" availability, not a Mac or visionOS build. The split-screen, phone-on-the-table design assumes a phone lying flat between two people, and does not make sense on a desktop.
Before you can use it for real
CoreTalk performs interpretation on a server, not on the device. To run a real session you need an AI server URL and an access key.
There is no way to obtain an access key from inside the app. You either have one provided to you, or you run the server yourself. Without one, the only thing that works is Demo Mode.
Demo Mode plays a scripted two-way conversation with no network access at all. It shows exactly how the interface behaves and costs nothing, but it is a recording, not a translation.
See Setup for what to enter and what the limits are.
What it does not collect
CoreTalk has no accounts and no sign-in. Its privacy manifest declares no tracking and no collected data types. The only permission it asks for is the microphone.