Talk to anyone, in your own language.
You write in English. Linh reads Vietnamese. Alo translates with what it knows about the two of you: the right “you”, the right tone, the right words for the moment. And both of you can always see what was really said.
Any email, any country. No local phone number, no invitation needed.
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Why Alo
Translation apps don’t know who you’re talking to.
Talking with someone in Vietnamese breaks down in a few predictable ways. Alo was built around each of them.
Workarounds that lose the thread
Copying between a translator and your chat, or holding a phone up to a call. Nothing keeps both languages together, and nothing knows your conversation.
See the workarounds ↓Anh, chị, em or bạn?
Vietnamese picks “you” by age, gender and closeness: anh, chị, em, bạn and more, and “I” changes to match. A generic translator falls back on “bạn”, which can sound distant. Alo uses what you’ve told it about Linh.
Idioms that don’t survive translation
A literal translator turns “Hứ, giận rồi đó nha!” into “Hmph, I’m angry now!”. What Linh means is closer to “Hmph, I’m sulking at you, you know!”. Alo explains, and either of you can flag a message to sort it out together.
Everyone’s on Zalo
Zalo is Vietnam’s main messenger, but signing up needs a Vietnamese phone number and a vouch from an existing user, so the foreign half often can’t join. Alo works with any email, from any country.
How it works
Each of you stays in your own language.
- 1
Write in English
Type, or send a voice note, the way you’d really say it. No phrasebook sentences, no simplifying.
- 2
Your assistant translates
It knows who Linh is to you, how you address each other, and what you’ve already talked about.
- 3
Linh reads it in Vietnamese
With the original one tap away, and a short note wherever an idiom or a turn of phrase needs explaining.
Review before sending
See exactly what Linh will read.
Before a message goes, Alo shows what you wrote, what Linh will read, and why each choice was made. Pick a tone, read it back word for word, or turn review off for quick messages.
Check a translation
Sort out misunderstandings together.
Either of you can flag a message that doesn’t sound right. Alo shows what was written, what was shown, a better reading and why the first one was off, with an honest note on how sure it is. Both of you see both versions, so it gets cleared up instead of left to fester.
Before Alo
Every workaround loses the thread.
If you’ve talked with someone in another language, you’ve probably tried at least one of these. They work, just about.
Copy and paste
Type in a translator app, copy, switch to the chat, paste. Then the same in reverse for every reply.
Speak through the translator
Type or dictate into the translator, then hold your phone up to the video call and let it read your words aloud in Vietnamese.
Select and translate
On an iPhone, select a message and tap Translate. It works, but often forgets the language, so you pick Vietnamese again each time.
What none of them do
- Keep both languages togetherThe original is in one app and the translation in another, or nowhere at all. Going back over what was said means piecing it together.
- Know your conversationEach sentence is translated on its own, with no idea who Linh is to you or what either of you said a minute ago.
With Alo
Every message, voice note and call caption stays in your chat in both languages, translated with the whole conversation in mind. Scroll back to anything, any time.
Calls
Calls in both languages.
Voice and video calls with live translation. Each of you hears the other the way you choose, with captions in both languages, and every caption is saved to the chat when you hang up.
- English voice: Like an interpreter on the line. Their real voice is muted.
- Linh’s voice: Hear their own voice and warmth, with captions in both languages.
- Captions only: For a quiet room, or if you’d rather read.
And everything you’d expect from a messenger.
- Photos, video and files
- Voice notes, transcribed and translated
- GIF search in either language
- Reactions that stack: tap a heart fifty times
- Group chats where everyone reads their own language
- Phone, web and desktop
Learn as you chat
Pick up Vietnamese from the person you’re talking to.
Turn the immersion dial and the words you’ve saved start appearing in Vietnamese. Write a message yourself and see what Linh would actually read. Tap any word for its meaning and how it sounds, slowly.
No streaks, no guilt. Just quiet progress: “You read 40% of today’s messages without translation.”
Everything translated, the original a tap away.
Words you’ve saved stay in Vietnamese.
Read the original. Tap to check yourself.
Want to go to the night market on Saturday?
Want to go to the chợ đêm on Thứ Bảy?
Thứ Bảy đi chợ đêm không?Check ›
Want to go to the night market on Saturday?
At the station at seven. I’ll show you my favorite food stall!
At the nhà ga at seven. I’ll show you my favorite đồ ăn stall!
Bảy giờ ở nhà ga nha. Dẫn đi quầy đồ ăn ruột của mình luôn!Check ›
At the station at seven. I’ll show you my favorite food stall!
Goals and coaching
A coach that’s honest with you.
Tell Alo what you want from the conversation, in plain words. It helps you get there in a way that fits Linh’s culture, and tells you honestly when the signals aren’t there.
It helps you show up honestly and well. It never suggests deception or pressure, and it never sends anything on your behalf.
Converted, not translated
Times and dates arrive in each person’s own format.
Alo notices when a conversation turns into a plan. Dates, times, prices and units are converted rather than translated, so a meeting never gets lost between languages and time zones.
For whoever is on the other side
Every relationship that crosses a language.
Alo looks like a clean, neutral messenger because it isn’t for one kind of conversation. Tell it who someone is to you, and it adjusts how it translates and what it suggests.
Partner
The right warmth, and help saying what you actually feel.
Family
In-laws, grandparents, cousins abroad: the respectful forms, and the dates that matter to them.
Friend
Jokes that land, slang that’s explained, and plans that don’t get lost.
Work
Colleagues and clients: the polite register, clear follow-ups, and nothing lost in a deal.
Privacy, stated honestly
Your assistant is yours alone.
Your relationship settings, your goals and your coaching are visible only to you. The other person never sees them, and they are never mixed into anyone else’s assistant.
Private context
What you tell Alo about the relationship only guides your translations. Edit or delete it any time.
No training on your chats
Your conversations are not used to train AI models.
Delete means delete
When you delete something, it is gone, not hidden.
You’re in control
The assistant suggests, reviews and explains. Nothing is ever sent without you.
One thing we won’t claim. To translate a message, a model has to read it, so Alo is encrypted in transit and at rest but is not end-to-end encrypted. We’d rather tell you that than pretend otherwise. A future Private mode will translate on your device with end-to-end encryption, for people who want that and can do without the relationship awareness, notes and coaching.
Say alo.
Sign up with any email, from any country. Invite Linh, and each of you can write in your own language.
Get Alo