Language and Translation
Three separate language settings — the app's interface, the language Wave transcribes in, and translating a session after the fact.
Wave has three language settings and they do different things. Changing the one you meant to change is usually the whole problem.
- App Language — the language of Wave's buttons, menus, and screens. 15 options. Doesn't touch your recordings.
- Recording Language (called Transcription Language on the web and desktop) — the language Wave expects to hear, used for transcripts and summaries of new recordings. 57 options.
- Per-session language — translate or re-transcribe one finished session into another language, without changing your default.
Setting the language Wave transcribes in
This is the default applied to every new recording.
Go to Settings → Recording Language under Personalization — "Choose the default language for transcription and summaries." Pick a language and confirm.
Changing the language for one recording
You can override the default per recording, before you start or while you're recording — the change is written straight onto that session.
On the recording screen, tap Language in the Session tools row. Search or scroll the Select Language list and tap your language. Recording carries on uninterrupted.
Translating a session after you've recorded it
Finished sessions can be redone in another language from Customize, on any platform. Open the session, go to the Language tab, and pick a language. Then choose how far Wave should go:
- Full Audio Retranscription off — the transcript stays in its original language and only the summary is rewritten in the new one. The button reads Regenerate Summary in Spanish.
- Full Audio Retranscription on — Wave re-transcribes the original audio in the language you picked and regenerates the summary from it. On phone and desktop the button changes to Reprocess in Spanish.
Retranscription is the more accurate of the two, because it works from the audio rather than from text that's already been transcribed. It needs the original audio file, so it isn't available for sessions where the audio is gone.
Where to find it:
- iPhone & Android — open the session, tap Customize in the action row, then the Language tab.
- Web — open the session, click Customize, then the Language tab.
- Desktop — open the session, click Customize summary, then the Language tab.
Processing runs on Wave's servers, so you can close the app; the session updates itself when it's done. The Style tab of the same dialog changes the format of a summary rather than its language — see Customize Summary.
Changing Wave's own language
The interface is available in 15 languages: English, Español, Français, Nederlands, Polski, Italiano, العربية, Deutsch, עברית, 日本語, 한국어, Português, Русский, Türkçe, and 中文.
- iPhone & Android — Settings → App Language under Personalization: "Choose the language for Wave controls and navigation."
- Web — Settings → General → App Language: "Language used for the Wave interface".
- Desktop — Settings → General → App Language. Menus, the tray, and dialogs all switch immediately.
Your choice syncs to your account, so setting it on one device carries to the others. If your device is set to a language Wave doesn't have, the interface falls back to English.
Changing App Language does nothing to your transcripts. If your summaries are coming out in the wrong language, it's the Recording Language you want.
FAQ
Pick the primary language. Wave transcribes against the one language you set, so mixed-language audio comes out best when you choose the one that's spoken most.
Yes — open the session, go to Customize → Language, turn on Full Audio Retranscription, pick the right language, and reprocess. The transcript is rebuilt from your audio.
Yes. Leave Full Audio Retranscription off and regenerate the summary in the language you want. The transcript is untouched.
No. Voice ID works the same way regardless of language.
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