Choose a live interpretation app by how your listeners will join and receive the event audio. A personal translation app and a shared event channel solve different problems. First decide whether one person needs help with a conversation or an audience needs the organiser’s translated feed.
For an event, check the exact language direction, voice or captions, joining steps and help available at the door. “Works on a phone” does not answer those questions. This guide reviews official documentation on 11 October 2026; it is not a performance test. tlive publishes it and supplies AI event translation.
What will the attendee actually open?
| Option | Documented access route | Check before using it |
|---|---|---|
| Google Translate live translate on Android | Listening, conversation and text-only modes in the app | Availability on the actual device and language pair; do not assume an organiser-managed audience channel1 |
| Interprefy mobile app | Installed app, event token or QR code; verification may be enabled | Send the correct event instructions and check enabled audio/caption choices2 |
| Interprefy browser option | Event link and the controls offered by that event | Ask which browser access route the organiser has configured3 |
| Wordly attendee link | Mobile browser via link or QR; an existing app may open instead | Session ID, any required passcode and the language’s available audio output4 |
These are access differences, not an accuracy ranking. The source pages do not establish that every option supplies Cantonese speech, translated voice or the same features for every event. Confirm those separately. For provider contracts, human interpretation and purchasing models, use our remote platform comparison.
Personal listening or a shared event feed?
At a reception desk, two people may want to take turns speaking into one phone. Google’s documented conversation mode is a relevant starting point. Its listening mode addresses personal listening; check current device and language availability.1
For a seminar, ask a different question: where does the attendee’s translation receive the speaker’s audio? An event link should connect to the host’s configured session. An app installed on each phone is not evidence that each listener receives that feed. Have the organiser demonstrate the complete route, rather than relying on a store screenshot.
Choose human or AI delivery before testing access. Sensitive decisions may need qualified interpretation. Access checks cannot establish that a translation is suitable for those decisions; our event translation planning guide covers the wider brief.
Copy this attendee access worksheet
Use one row per device and access route you intend to support. This is a blank planning tool, not a record of tests we performed.
| Check | Record your result | Person responsible |
|---|---|---|
| Open the invite on the actual phone | Device, browser/app version, link destination: ___ | ___ |
| Join without help | Code or verification needed; confusing step: ___ | ___ |
| Select the intended language | Source → output; captions/voice available: ___ | ___ |
| Listen through the guest’s headphones | Connection, volume and any audio-start action: ___ | ___ |
| Read captions comfortably | Text size, contrast and display position: ___ | ___ |
| Leave and rejoin | Steps and observed outcome: ___ | ___ |
| Use the agreed alternative | Who assists; suitable device or caption display: ___ | ___ |
Ask a volunteer who has not seen the setup to follow the invitation. Record where they stop. Test any verification step with the actual account or contact method it requires. Avoid printing a private event code on a public poster without the host’s permission.
For Wordly, the official guide advises disabling Chrome’s page translation to avoid overriding the chosen language; audio availability also depends on language and display mode.4 Put service-specific instructions in your worksheet rather than applying them to every app.
Prepare the invitation and the help desk together
A suggested invitation, with placeholders to fill in:
For translated captions or audio, open [event link] or scan [QR]. Choose [available language]. For audio, bring compatible headphones and follow [audio-start instruction]. Joining requires [code/verification, or none]. If you cannot join, ask [named contact] at [help point].
Keep a tappable link alongside the QR: a person viewing the invitation on the same phone still needs a way to open it. Agree a suitable option for guests without a working phone or headphones. If only captions will be available, say so before arrival.
In tlive, guests open a QR/link without an account or installation, then choose from the event’s enabled languages and use captions, audio or both.5 A room offers the source language plus at most two translated languages, so the invitation must name the actual choices rather than the whole language catalogue. Check the guest workflow and rehearse your own event before sending invitations.