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Two Way Conversation on Mac and Windows

This page covers the desktop app on Mac and Windows. The control is in the same place and behaves the same way on both. For what the feature does and how it works, see the Two Way Conversation overview.

Unlike the mobile apps and the Web App, the desktop app starts one-way (→), so setting the direction is a real step here.

Set Up a Two-Way Conversation​

  1. Download Whisperr if you haven't already — for Mac or for Windows — then launch Whisperr

  2. Set the two languages you'll be speaking in the Speaking and Translate to pickers at the top

  3. Click the direction button between the two pickers until it shows the double arrow ⇄. Each click cycles it → → ← → ⇄ → →

    Two things confirm it worked: the button turns green, and both labels change from Speaking / Translate to to Speaking & translate — the app telling you it's listening for both languages at once.

The Whisperr desktop language bar in two-way mode: both labels read Speaking and translate, and the green two-way arrow button sits highlighted between the two language pickers

  1. Keep Microphone selected as the audio source so Whisperr hears the room

  2. Click the record button and let the two of you talk

Each line appears in the language it was spoken in with the translation underneath, and a change of speaker or spoken language always starts a new line. Your choice of direction is remembered, so you only set it once.

Options Worth Considering​

  • Speak Aloud (in the quick toggles) reads each translation out loud as it's confirmed — your side in their language, theirs in yours. Use headphones, or the microphone will hear Whisperr speaking and transcribe it back. See Speech Mode on Mac · on Windows.
  • Both / Transcription / Translation tabs above the transcript switch between showing both sides of every line and just one. Both is what you want for a conversation.
  • Utter chunking speed in Settings controls how often a new transcript line starts. A change of speaker or spoken language starts a new line regardless of the setting.
  • System audio works with two-way as well, if the two voices are coming out of your computer — a call or a recording — rather than the room.

Reading It From Both Sides of a Table​

Full screen translations blows the text up and hides every control, and takes the window full screen so the OS chrome leaves too. That's the mode you want when the laptop is sitting between the two of you, or when a small group is reading along.

Common Issues​

Only one of the two languages is being transcribed​

The direction button is on → or ←. Stop recording, click it until it turns green and reads ⇄, with both labels saying Speaking & translate, then start again. This is the most common thing to miss on desktop, since the app doesn't start in two-way.

The other person's speech comes out as nonsense in my language​

Both pickers need to be set to the two languages actually being spoken — Whisperr only listens for those two, and anything else gets forced into the nearest one.

Whisperr transcribes its own spoken translation​

That's Speak Aloud playing out of your speakers and back into the microphone. Use headphones. On desktop, echo cancellation is automatic for microphone capture, but a loud speaker at close range can still get through.

Nothing is transcribed at all​

Check that Whisperr has microphone permission in your system settings and that the right input device is selected. Two-way also needs an internet connection — it runs on Whisperr's cloud speech engine.

Still not working? Contact Support