Chat in English with someone who speaks German

Piou lets you write in English while your landlord, neighbor or in-laws write in German: each message is translated on the reader's own device, and the original is always one tap away. Translation is part of Piou Premium (€4.90 a month in Germany and Austria, CHF 5.90 in Switzerland, after a 7-day free trial) and keeps working offline once both languages are downloaded.

How it works between English and German

You write English, they write German, and neither of you has to switch. Piou detects the language of each message on the sender's phone and stores it unchanged; the reader's device does the translating. Translated messages show a “Translated” label, and “Show original” reveals the exact German, compound words and all.

The translation always runs on the device:

• iPhone (iOS 18 or later): Apple's built-in translation.
• Android (8.0 or later): Google's ML Kit, with the language models downloaded to the phone.
• Web app (app.piou.chat): the open-source Bergamot engine with Firefox Translations models in the browser, or Chrome's built-in translation on desktop when available. English–German is translated directly, with no third language in between.

Translations never leave your device. The messages themselves are stored on Piou's servers, in their original language, so they can be delivered and synced.

Translation is personal. With Premium, you read messages, polls, status text and voice messages in English; voice messages are transcribed and translated, and the recording stays playable. On the free plan, German messages stay in German, with a banner once a day per conversation offering “Message in German — Tap to read it in English”. Your contact needs Premium too to read you in German, or you can gift it.

An example exchange

Sam, a nurse from Manchester, has just moved to Munich. Her neighbor, Herr Gruber, writes to her. The translations are illustrative; the exact wording depends on each device's engine.

• Herr Gruber writes: “Grüß Gott, Frau Taylor! Ich habe ein Paket für Sie angenommen. Ich bin heute bis 18 Uhr zu Hause.”
  • Sam reads: “Hello, Ms. Taylor! I accepted a package for you. I'm home today until 6 p.m.”
• Sam writes: “That's so kind of you, thank you! I'll come by around 5:30.”
  • Herr Gruber reads: “Das ist sehr nett von Ihnen, danke! Ich komme gegen 17:30 Uhr vorbei.”
• Herr Gruber writes: “Passt. Und denken Sie dran: Morgen wird die Biotonne geleert.”
  • Sam reads: “Okay. And remember: the organic waste bin is emptied tomorrow.”

Here the engine chose the formal “Ihnen”, matching Herr Gruber's Sie; with another sentence it might have picked the familiar du. “Grüß Gott” is an everyday greeting in Bavaria and Austria, and “Passt” is a Southern German way of saying “fine”.

Tips for writing to German speakers

• Sie until told otherwise. German has a formal Sie and a familiar du. With landlords, offices and older neighbors, Sie is the norm; many workplaces and younger people switch to du quickly. The engine picks one for your “you”, so with formal contacts keep a polite tone and write “Mr./Ms.” plus the surname (Herr, Frau).
• Titles, especially in Austria. Academic titles like Dr. often appear in forms of address in Germany, and even more in Austria, where Mag. or DI may show up on doorbells and letters. If someone signs as Dr. Huber, write “Dear Dr. Huber”.
• “Halb” points to the next hour. In German, halb acht is 7:30, not 8:30. If a translated time looks odd, check the original, and write your own times in figures.
• Numbers and money. German uses a decimal comma and a period for thousands: 1.250,00 € is twelve hundred fifty euros. Double-check rents, deposits and bills.
• House rules. Many buildings have a Hausordnung with quiet hours, often at night and on Sundays and holidays, plus careful waste sorting. When a neighbor messages you about noise or bins, that's usually the context.
• Plain sentences. Phrasal verbs and idioms (“sort it out”, “put up with”) translate less reliably than simple, direct sentences.

Translation limits to know

• Dialects, especially Swiss German. Many Swiss write their dialect in chats (“Chunsch au?” for “Are you coming too?”); Piou translates standard German, so dialect messages may be poorly translated. Bavarian or Swabian spellings can trip it up too.
• Compounds and officialese. Nebenkostenabrechnung (the yearly service-charge statement) usually translates fine, but bureaucratic German can come out stiff or puzzling.
• Gender. German nouns for people are gendered (Arzt or Ärztin); from English “my doctor”, the engine guesses.
• Mixed messages. Piou detects one language per message, so sentences that switch between English and German may be only half-translated.
• Voice features depend on what your device's speech recognition supports, and accents or background noise lower accuracy.
• High stakes. Piou translates messages, not documents. For leases, official letters, medical visits or money, use a professional translation or an interpreter, and check official sources. In an emergency, call 112 in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

Getting started

1. Install Piou on an iPhone (iOS 18 or later) or an Android phone (8.0 or later), or open app.piou.chat and add it to your home screen (Safari → Share → “Add to Home Screen” on iPhone; Chrome → ⋮ → “Install app” on Android).
2. Create your account with Apple, Google or an email address, choose English and verify your phone number once: it helps contacts find you and is never used to sign in.
3. Download English and German on Wi-Fi so translation also works offline.
4. Find your contact under “Already on Piou”, or send an invite link or QR code.
5. Start the 7-day free trial (card required, no charge for 7 days; the subscription then starts automatically unless you cancel first). To let your contact read you in German, use “Gift Piou to someone”.