Telegram call translation with subtitles and answer drafts
Telegram Desktop is where a lot of cross-border business actually happens. Subtl treats a Telegram call like any other sound on your machine: it reads the output device, splits it from your microphone, and shows you both sides of the conversation in text.
Group voice chats work too, which makes it usable for the channels and communities where the discussion is live and in a language you are still learning.
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Setting it up with Telegram
- 01
Call from Telegram Desktop
One-to-one calls, video calls, and group voice chats all produce ordinary system audio, which is all Subtl needs.
- 02
Attach the documents you will be asked about
For a supplier negotiation this is the quote and the specification. Answer drafts then contain your figures rather than plausible-sounding invented ones.
- 03
Choose an overlay layout
Stacked shows original, translation and answer as three panels; sidebar keeps a narrow column; bar is a single line. Switch during the call with the layout button.
What works
- Telegram Desktop voice and video calls on macOS.
- Group voice chats, including ones where you only listen.
- Long, technical sentences — the transcription is prompted with your glossary, so product names and abbreviations survive.
- Answer drafts you can shorten, expand, or regenerate before you say them.
What it does not do
- Telegram bots and the Telegram API are not involved and cannot be — nothing here connects to your Telegram account.
- A group voice chat with several simultaneous speakers is transcribed as one channel.
- Use headphones. Subtl reads the speaker channel and your microphone separately, and without headphones your microphone picks up the other person through the speakers, which blurs the two channels.
Questions about Telegram
Does Subtl connect to my Telegram account?
No. There is no bot, no API token, and no login. Subtl only reads sound that your computer is already playing, so your account and your chats are untouched.
Can it translate a group voice chat with many speakers?
It transcribes and translates the audio, but everyone on the far side arrives as a single channel, so the text does not say who spoke. It is useful for following the discussion, less so for minutes.
Which languages are supported?
Thirty translation languages at launch, including Russian, Ukrainian, Kazakh, Turkish, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and the main European ones. The interface itself is English and Russian for now.
Does it work with Telegram's secret chats?
Calls are what Subtl reads, and it reads them after your device has decrypted them. It has no access to message content of any kind, secret or otherwise.
What happens when my minutes run out mid-call?
A yellow bar warns you before the limit and the session stops at it. The call itself is unaffected — Subtl is not in the audio path of the call.