Chat in English with someone who writes Simplified Chinese

Piou lets you write in English while your contact writes in Simplified Chinese: each message is translated on the reader's own device, into their language, and the original is always one tap away. Translation is part of Piou Premium ($5.99 a month in the US, after a 7-day free trial) and keeps working offline once both languages are downloaded. Piou isn't distributed in mainland China's app stores, so this page is about chatting with Chinese speakers elsewhere: in Singapore, in Malaysia and around the world.

How it works between English and Simplified Chinese

You type in English, your contact types in Chinese characters, and nobody has to switch. Piou detects the language of each message on the sender's phone and stores it exactly as written. The translation happens on the reader's device: a translated message is labeled “Translated”, and “Show original” reveals the characters that were actually typed.

No cloud translation service is involved. The engine depends 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, running in the browser, or Chrome's built-in translation on desktop when available. English–Chinese is a direct pair, with no third language in between.

Translations never leave the 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 everything in English: messages, polls, the text of status updates, and voice messages, which are transcribed and translated while the original audio stays playable. On the free plan, you see the Chinese characters as they were written, with a banner once a day per conversation offering to read the message in English. Your contact needs Premium to read you in Chinese, which is why Piou suggests gifting it when only one of you has it.

An example exchange

Megan, in Columbus, Ohio, is hosting Yuqi, a first-year student from Chengdu. The translations below are illustrative; the exact wording depends on each device's engine.

• Megan writes: “Hi Yuqi! Dinner's at 6:30 tonight. Do you eat pork?”
  • Yuqi reads: “嗨，Yuqi！今晚 6:30 吃晚饭。你吃猪肉吗？”
• Yuqi writes: “吃的，谢谢！今天实验课可能会拖堂，大概七点到家，你们先吃吧。”
  • Megan reads: “Yes, I do, thanks! Today's lab class may run late. I'll be home around seven, so go ahead and eat first.”
• Megan writes: “No problem, I'll save you a plate!”
  • Yuqi reads: “没问题，我给你留一个盘子！”

Three details stand out. Yuqi answered “吃的” (“I eat it”): Chinese often answers a yes-or-no question by repeating the verb, and the engine turned it into “Yes, I do.” Her second sentence had no “I”; the engine supplied it, correctly this time. And Megan's idiom came through as an actual plate: “I'll keep some dinner for you” would have been clearer.

Tips for writing to Chinese speakers

• Family name first. In 张雨琪 (Zhang Yuqi), Zhang is the family name. Many students abroad also use an English name such as Kiki or Leo; use the one they use with you.
• Listen for the gentle no. Many Chinese speakers avoid a flat refusal: “我考虑一下” (“let me think about it”) or “可能不太方便” (“that might not be convenient”) often means no, even when the translation sounds open.
• Count in ten-thousands. Chinese groups large numbers by 万 (10,000): 3万 is 30,000 and 100万 is one million. Restate amounts that matter in figures, with the currency.
• Spell out dates. Chinese writes dates year, month, day (2026年10月18日). “October 18” leaves no room for confusion.
• Mind the smiley. Among many younger Chinese internet users, the plain smiling-face emoji reads as cold or sarcastic rather than friendly. A laughing face or a sticker is safer.

Translation limits to know

• Tense and number. Chinese verbs don't change for tense, and plurals are rarely marked, so the engine infers “go”, “went” or “will go” from context. Time words such as “yesterday” or “next Friday” help.
• Missing subjects. Chinese often drops “I”, “you” or “we” when they're obvious, and the English translation has to guess who is doing what.
• Slang and shorthand. Internet shorthand such as 666 (“awesome”), 88 (“bye”), yyds or 绝绝子 may come through untranslated or literally.
• Pinyin and mixed messages. A message typed in pinyin rather than characters may not be recognized as Chinese. Piou detects one language per message, so a sentence that mixes English and Chinese may be only partly translated.
• Names. Chinese names written in characters can be translated word by word (春花 may turn into “spring flower”), and English names may come out transliterated in characters. Ask how a name should be written.
• Dialects. Written Chinese is supported; spoken Cantonese isn't, and other dialects aren't guaranteed. Voice features depend on what your device's speech recognition supports.
• High stakes. For medical, legal, immigration, money or contract questions, rely on a professional interpreter or a human translation. In an emergency, call 911 in the US or your local emergency number.

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 lets your contacts find you; it's never used to sign in.
3. Download English and Chinese on Wi-Fi so translation also works offline.
4. Add your contact from “Already on Piou”, or send an invite link or QR code. They choose Chinese (Simplified) as their language.
5. Start the 7-day free trial. A card is required and nothing is charged for 7 days. If you want your contact to read you in Chinese, tap “Gift Piou to someone”.