Frequently asked questions

Messaging is free, with no time limit. Translation is part of Piou Premium: $5.99 a month or $47.99 a year in the United States, £4.99 or £39.99 in the UK, and €4.90 or €39 in the euro area, after a 7-day free trial. The price is adapted to each country and is always shown before you subscribe.

All of the messaging: one-to-one and group chats, voice messages, photos, videos, documents, reactions, replies, pinned and disappearing messages, location sharing, polls, stickers, status updates, and audio and video calls. Without Premium, messages are shown in their original language, without translation.

Automatic translation of messages, polls and status text; transcribed and translated voice messages; translated subtitles during calls; and face-to-face mode. A subscription taken on one platform works on all your devices (iPhone, Android and the web app).

A payment method is required to start the trial, but nothing is charged for 7 days. If you don't cancel before the trial ends, the subscription starts automatically at the displayed price. You can cancel at any time during the trial at no cost.

On iPhone or Android, from the subscription settings of your Apple or Google account; for a subscription bought on the website, from Settings → Premium. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for: you keep Premium until then.

Translation is personal: whoever has Premium reads everything in their own language, and whoever doesn't sees the original messages. If you want the other person to read you in their language too, they need Premium, or you can gift it to them. To chat at all, you both need Piou.

Yes, from the app or the website: pick a contact, enter their email address or send them a link. They get a notification. Each person you gift is a separate subscription, at the price of one subscription, with the same 7-day free trial. You manage and cancel your gifts in Settings → Premium → "Gifted subscriptions".

20 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Any pair of these languages works.

Everyone writes in their own language. The message is saved as written, then translated on each Premium recipient's phone, into that recipient's language: by Apple's built-in translation on iPhone, by ML Kit on Android and by open-source models in the browser. No online translation service is used.

Yes, always. A translated message is marked "Translated"; tap the label, or choose "Show original", to switch between the translation and the original text.

It is designed for everyday understanding, not to replace a translator. Idioms, humor, proper names, dialects and levels of politeness can come out wrong. In the web app, a pair without English goes through English, which can lower quality. For a contract, a medical matter or an emergency, check with a qualified person.

With Premium, yes: the voice message is transcribed on the device, then the text is translated on the recipient's side. The original audio can always be played. Transcription depends on the speech recognition available on the device for the spoken language.

No. Your messages are encrypted in transit (TLS) and on our host's disks, but they are not end-to-end encrypted: our systems can technically access them in order to deliver them. We don't read them, except when a message is reported to us or the law requires it. Translations, on the other hand, stay on your device.

Your messages and your account are hosted by Supabase, on servers located in Paris (France). The website and the web app are hosted by Vercel. Translations never leave your device.

No. There is no advertising in Piou and we don't sell your data. Our statistics are internal, with no cookies and no third-party tools.

If you allow it, the numbers in your address book are turned into fingerprints on your phone before being sent. We compare them with registered users to show you who is "Already on Piou", and we never keep the numbers of people who don't use Piou.

Yes. In each conversation, you can turn on disappearing messages for 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days: they are then deleted from our servers. Status updates disappear after 24 hours. You can also delete a message for everyone for up to 48 hours after sending it.

Yes, once the languages are downloaded to your device (a one-time download, ideally over Wi-Fi): messages you have already received and face-to-face mode are translated offline. You do need a connection to send and receive messages or to make calls.

Put the phone between you and the other person: Piou detects who is speaking, shows the translation and reads it aloud. One phone is enough; the other person doesn't need to install anything. It works offline once the languages are downloaded. It is a Premium feature.

The web app keeps its interface and the downloaded language models in your browser's cache. You can therefore reread and translate messages that are already loaded without a network, but sending and receiving messages requires a connection.

So your contacts can find you. It is verified once at sign-up and is never used to sign in. Depending on your country, verification works by a text message you send (your carrier may charge for it under your plan), by a missed call, by a code received on Telegram or WhatsApp, or by a text message you receive.

With your Apple account, your Google account, or an email address and password. With email, a 6-digit code confirms your address and is also used to reset your password.

On iPhone (iOS 18 or later), on Android (Android 8.0 or later) and in an installable web app: on iPhone, open it in Safari, then Share → "Add to Home Screen"; on Android, in Chrome, menu ⋮ → "Install app". Your account and subscription are the same everywhere.

From your contacts, tap "Invite", or share your invite link or QR code. You can also invite them by email. There is no reward for invitations.

In the app: Settings → Delete my account. Your profile, phone number and contacts are then erased. If you have a subscription bought on the App Store or Google Play, also cancel it from your Apple or Google account.

It's spelled Piou, like the little chirp of a chick in French, which is why our mascot is a yellow chick. People sometimes search for it as Piu, Pio or Pew: it's the same app.

Piou is published by ALTRIX FZCO, a Free Zone Company registered with IFZA (license No. 66415), Building A1, Dubai Digital Park, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Contact: support@piou.chat.

Yes. Audio and video calls between Piou users are free, one-to-one or in groups (up to 8 participants). They go over the internet: Piou cannot call regular phone numbers.

During a call, each phone transcribes its owner's voice and sends the text to the other device over the call connection; yours translates it and shows it as subtitles in your language. Nothing is processed on our servers. Translated subtitles are part of Premium and depend on the speech recognition available on the devices.

No. Sound and video travel directly from one device to the other, or through a relay server if the network requires it, encrypted by the call protocol; they are not recorded. We only keep the call history (participants, duration) in the conversation.