Microsoft just confirmed that its Converse feature — the multi-device conversation mode in Microsoft Translator — will stop working on June 30, 2026. The translator.microsoft.com website is also shutting down on the same date.
If you have ever used Converse, you know what is being lost. It was the only free translator that let up to 100 people join a single conversation, each speaking their own language, each reading translations on their own device. Teachers used it in multilingual classrooms. Tour guides used it with international groups. Businesses used it for cross-language meetings. Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities used it as a real-time accessibility tool.
And now it is gone.
What Microsoft Converse Actually Did
The setup was simple. One person created a conversation and got a five-letter code or QR code. Everyone else joined by entering the code on their phone or browser. Each participant picked their language. Then everyone spoke or typed in their own language, and Microsoft Translator automatically translated every message into every other participant's language in real time.
It supported up to 100 simultaneous participants. Sessions lasted up to 4 hours. It worked across iOS, Android, and web browsers. Hosts could mute participants, lock conversations, and manage the room.
For the specific problem of "a large group of people who speak different languages need to communicate right now," nothing else matched it. Google Translate does not have group conversation. Apple Translate does not have group conversation. DeepL does not have group conversation.
Microsoft was the only one. And they just killed it.
Why This Matters
The retirement does not just remove a feature. It removes an entire category of use case from the free translation market.
Schools and universities used Converse for parent-teacher conferences where families spoke different languages. A teacher could create one conversation room and have 30 parents participate, each in their own language.
Tour operators and guides used it to communicate with multilingual groups without repeating everything in four languages.
Healthcare settings used it when multiple family members speaking different languages needed to understand a doctor's explanation simultaneously.
Conference organizers used it as a free alternative to expensive simultaneous interpretation services.
Accessibility communities — particularly deaf and hard-of-hearing users — relied on Converse as a real-time captioning and translation tool that worked across devices.
All of these users now need an alternative. Microsoft's suggestion: download the app and use other features. But the other features do not include group conversation.
What Alternatives Exist
Honestly, very few.
Google Translate — No group conversation mode. Two-person conversation only.
Apple Translate — No group conversation. Two-person only. Apple devices only. 20 languages.
DeepL — No conversation mode at all. Text-focused.
iTranslate — Two-person conversation behind a paywall. No group support.
Dedicated hardware (Pocketalk, Vasco) — Two-person only. Vasco Q1 claims 100-person group mode via QR code, but it costs $489, requires internet, and everyone needs to have a Vasco device or scan the QR code with a connected phone.
The gap is real. For free, multi-person, translated group conversation, there is essentially nothing left in the market after June 30.
Traverba: Offline Group Chat That Does Not Need a Server
Traverba takes a fundamentally different approach to group translation. Instead of routing everything through a cloud server, Traverba connects devices directly via Bluetooth mesh. Each phone handles its own speech recognition and translation locally.
Here is how it works:
- One person creates a group chat in Traverba
- Up to 7 people connect via Bluetooth — no internet, no QR code scanning through a server, no account required
- Each person picks their language
- Everyone speaks in their own language. Every message is translated into every other participant's language in real time
- All processing happens on each phone individually. No data leaves any device
The key difference from Microsoft Converse: Traverba works completely offline. No WiFi. No cell signal. No server. No data sent anywhere.
This means it works in places where Microsoft Converse never could:
- Underground venues with no signal
- Rural areas with poor connectivity
- Flights with no WiFi
- Countries with restricted internet where cloud services are blocked or surveilled
- Hospitals and legal settings where sending conversation data to a cloud server creates compliance risks
The Tradeoff
Let's be transparent. Traverba supports up to 7 participants, not 100. If you need a 30-person parent-teacher conference, Traverba is not a direct replacement for Microsoft Converse.
But for the most common group translation scenarios — a dinner with friends who speak different languages, a small business meeting, a guided tour group, a family gathering across language barriers — 7 people is more than enough.
And unlike Microsoft Converse, Traverba's group chat:
- Works without internet — Bluetooth mesh, no server dependency
- Keeps conversations private — no data sent to any cloud. Not Microsoft's servers, not anyone's servers
- Cannot be shut down — there is no service to retire, no server to turn off. The AI runs on your phone
- Has no session limits — no 4-hour cap, no monthly hour quotas
What Microsoft's Retirement Tells Us
Cloud services get retired. It happens. Microsoft Converse is not the first — Google killed Google Translate's conversation history, Amazon shut down SayHi Translate in 2024, and countless other translation features have been quietly sunset.
When your translation tool depends on someone else's server, you are always one product decision away from losing it.
On-device translation removes that dependency. The models run on your phone. The processing happens locally. No server means no shutdown. Your translator works as long as your phone works.
Try It
Traverba is free on both platforms. Voice translation, camera translation, screen translation, and text translation are all free and unlimited. Group chat is available with Traverba Premium.
Available on Google Play and App Store. Learn more at traverba.com.
If you are a Microsoft Converse user looking for alternatives before June 30 — give Traverba a try. The group chat works differently (Bluetooth instead of cloud), but the result is the same: everyone speaks their language, everyone understands each other.