Does Translattia’s app need to stay open for translation?

I still keep the app in the foreground out of habit, mostly because my screen locks fast and I’m not digging it back out mid-sentence. The earbud tap controls handle the basics fine, but I like seeing the transcript on screen to double-check what got picked up.

I tried leaving the app to check a map mid-conversation and the translation cut out on me. Brought the app back up and it picked right back up, but that little gap was enough to make things awkward. So now I just keep it open and deal with it. Screen locked is fine, it’s switching apps that gets me.

My screen can stay off but switching apps still cut mine out.

Mine works with the screen off, so you’re not stuck staring at it. But I did notice it drains the battery faster that way, so I usually keep it plugged in if it’s a long back and forth.

I usually just leave my phone face down on the table with the app running and it’s been fine for me. Never really tried jumping into other stuff though, mostly because I’m too busy actually talking to whoever’s in front of me.

The app is doing the actual translating, so I’d expect it to need to be running in some form. Whether the screen can be off or you can hop to another app is probably more about how your phone handles background apps than the earbuds. Depends what you need it for, but I wouldn’t count on full multitasking.

Mine kept translating with the screen locked, which surprised me since I figured locking it would kill the connection. I had it going for about an hour while my phone sat in my pocket during a walk with a friend visiting from Brazil, and it never dropped. Switching apps is where I’d expect things to get weird though. Anytime I’ve opened something else mid-conversation, I honestly haven’t paid enough attention to say whether it kept up, because I was busy doing whatever I opened the app for. So screen off, you’re fine in my experience. Living in another app the whole time, I genuinely don’t know. The phone does not have to be in your hand the entire time, at least in my case. I just leave it wherever and let the earbuds do their thing.

My guess is it needs to at least be running in the background, screen off is probably fine but switching apps is where I’d expect it to get flaky. I haven’t seen anything official from them saying either way. Does the app actually say anything about background use in the settings?

Figures. If it’s not in the settings they probably just don’t document it. I’d still keep it open in the foreground when you actually need it to work, since that’s the only thing you can count on without them spelling it out.

I’ve had decent luck with mine while the phone sits in my pocket, screen off, and it kept up fine for a short back and forth at a cafe counter. What surprised me was the battery side of it, my phone dropped a few percent pretty quick during that chat, so I’d keep a charger handy if you plan long sessions. Still on the fence about whether I’d trust it for a whole day of travel though.

Mine actually stopped mid conversation when I left the app open but my screen timed out on its own. Not locked by me, just the normal timeout after a minute or so. The earbuds were still connected and everything, but the translation just quit, and I had to unlock and tap back into the app to get it going again. That was with my phone sitting on the table between me and my brother in law, so nothing fancy going on.

Maybe there is a setting somewhere to keep it awake that I missed, but I looked through the app a bit and did not see one. I mostly got these for him to use when he visits, so I am not glued to them myself, but that one test kind of put me off relying on it for a whole dinner or something. It worked fine the rest of the time while I had the app up.

So my answer would be that it depends, and mine did not behave the way some people here are describing. I would test it yourself with the screen timing out before you count on it.