Captio AI
🦻 Accessibility + 💻 Productivity App

Swahili live captions and productivity tool for deaf and HoH people.

Follow any Swahili conversation, meeting or lecture. Supports Standard Swahili across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Download for free

Download on theApp Store
Captio AI app showing live captions in Swahili
Use Cases

Works in every situation

Designed for the real moments that matter — not just quiet controlled environments.

💬Everyday Conversations

Most Swahili conversations happen fast, at normal pace, without warning. Captio AI captions every word as it's spoken, so you can follow without asking anyone to repeat themselves.

🤟Communicating with Deaf & HoH

Hearing people often don't know how to adapt when talking with deaf or hard of hearing Swahili speakers. Captio AI turns their speech into real-time captions, so the conversation can happen naturally on both sides.

💼Meetings

In Swahili meetings, decisions happen fast and people talk over each other. Captio AI captions every speaker as they talk, so you never miss a decision or a question directed at you.

🎓Lectures

Swahili lecturers speak quickly, cover complex material, and rarely repeat themselves. Captio AI gives you a live transcript of everything said, so you can follow the content instead of straining to hear it.

🏥Doctor Appointments

Doctors speak quickly in Swahili and use clinical language that's easy to mishear. Captio AI shows you everything they say in real time, so you can follow your diagnosis and ask the right questions.

🤝Job Interviews

Missing a question in a Swahili interview means answering wrong or asking for a repeat. Captio AI shows you every word the interviewer says, so you can focus entirely on your answer.

📱Phone & Video Calls

Swahili phone and video calls are harder to follow than in-person conversations. No lip reading, often poor audio quality. Captio AI captions whoever is speaking in real time, so you do not need to ask for repeats.

👥Group Settings

In Swahili group conversations, multiple people talk at once and the thread moves fast. Captio AI keeps up with whoever is speaking, so you can follow without losing where the conversation is going.

🍽️Restaurants & Cafes

Background noise in Swahili-speaking restaurants and cafes makes speech hard to follow. Captio AI focuses on whoever is speaking to you, so you can have a real conversation through the noise.

✈️Traveling

In Swahili-speaking cities, airports, and hotels there is no margin for mishearing. Captio AI captions speech in real time, so you can navigate confidently wherever you go.

🎤Conferences & Events

At Swahili conferences, speakers are far away, acoustics are unpredictable, and you cannot ask for a repeat. Captio AI gives you a live transcript of every speaker, so you can follow the full event from any seat.

📺TV & Media

Built-in subtitles on Swahili TV, films, and videos are often wrong, delayed, or missing. Captio AI captions whatever is playing in real time, so you are not dependent on what the content provides.

Download for free

Download on theApp Store
Dialect & Accent Support

Swahili dialect & accent support

Supports Standard Swahili across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Kiunguja dialect

The Zanzibar variety — the basis for Standard Swahili (Kiswahili Sanifu). Spoken on Zanzibar and Pemba islands and the Dar es Salaam coast. Used in formal education, national broadcasting, and official communication across East Africa. Captio AI handles Kiunguja with full accuracy.

Kimvita dialect

Spoken in Mombasa and along the Kenyan coast. Historically associated with classical Swahili literature and the trading city of Mombasa. Has distinct phonological features from Kiunguja. Captio AI handles Kimvita accurately alongside Standard Swahili.

Kiamu dialect

Spoken on Lamu island and the surrounding archipelago — one of the most conservative Swahili dialects and historically important for classical Swahili literature. Captio AI handles educated Kiamu speech accurately.

Kingwana dialect

Spoken in eastern DRC — a pidginized inland variety of Swahili that spread along trade routes from the coast. Has simplified grammar and distinct vocabulary from Coastal Swahili. Captio AI handles Standard Swahili most reliably; heavy Kingwana may have reduced accuracy.

Sheng dialect

A rapidly evolving mixed variety spoken in Nairobi — blending Swahili, English, Kikuyu, Luhya, and other languages. Highly localized and changes quickly. Captio AI handles Standard Swahili and Swahili-English code-switching reliably; dense Sheng slang may have reduced accuracy.

Download for free

Download on theApp Store
Privacy

What you hear stays with you.

Gone the moment it ends

Captio AI processes your Swahili audio in real time and discards it immediately. Nothing is recorded. Nothing is kept.

Not a product

Your conversations are not something Captio AI sells, shares, or monetizes — to anyone, for any reason.

Not used to train anything

What you say in a Swahili doctor's appointment or job interview never ends up in a training dataset. Not ours. Not anyone else's.

100% PRIVATE
Accessibility

Hearing accessibility for Swahili speakers

Kenyan Sign Language (KSL)Tanzanian Sign Language (TSL)

Swahili is spoken across more than 20 countries in East and Central Africa, but the deaf communities in its two main regions use different sign languages. Kenya's deaf community uses Kenyan Sign Language (KSL), with an estimated 600,000 deaf people in the country. Tanzania uses Tanzanian Sign Language (TSL). KSL and TSL are not mutually intelligible.

Literacy in written Swahili is very low among Kenya's deaf community. Many deaf people in the region have limited access to education in either sign language or written Swahili, meaning communication barriers compound each other. Access to sign language interpreters in hospitals, courts, or government offices is scarce across most of East Africa.

For hard of hearing Swahili speakers, formal settings offer very little support. A hard of hearing patient at a hospital in Nairobi or Dar es Salaam typically manages the consultation alone. Captio AI provides a way to follow spoken Swahili in real time in exactly these situations.

Download for free

Download on theApp Store
Reviews

People love Captio AI

"My office in Nairobi switches between Swahili and English constantly. Captio AI handles both. I use it in meetings every day."

Amina 🇰🇪
amina.w***@gmail.com
Hard of hearing, Nairobi

"I use Captio AI at the hospital in Mombasa. Doctors speak quickly in Swahili and there is no interpreter. Captio AI gives me a transcript of the whole consultation."

David 🇰🇪
david.o***@gmail.com
Deaf, Mombasa

"Captio AI handles Tanzanian Swahili well. I use it at work and for any official appointment in Dar es Salaam."

Fatuma 🇹🇿
fatuma.m***@gmail.com
Hard of hearing, Dar es Salaam

"My hearing started declining two years ago. I use Captio AI in Kisumu for any meeting or appointment where I need to follow spoken Swahili."

Joseph 🇰🇪
joseph.k***@gmail.com
Progressive hearing loss, Kisumu

"Tanzanian Standard Swahili is handled accurately by Captio AI. I use it for work meetings in Arusha. It is the first tool that has actually worked for me."

Grace 🇹🇿
grace.s***@gmail.com
Hard of hearing, Arusha

"My university lectures in Nairobi are in Swahili and English. Captio AI gives me a live caption of whatever language the lecturer is using."

Patrick 🇰🇪
patrick.n***@gmail.com
Deaf, Nairobi

"My office in Nairobi switches between Swahili and English constantly. Captio AI handles both. I use it in meetings every day."

Amina 🇰🇪
amina.w***@gmail.com
Hard of hearing, Nairobi

"I use Captio AI at the hospital in Mombasa. Doctors speak quickly in Swahili and there is no interpreter. Captio AI gives me a transcript of the whole consultation."

David 🇰🇪
david.o***@gmail.com
Deaf, Mombasa

"Captio AI handles Tanzanian Swahili well. I use it at work and for any official appointment in Dar es Salaam."

Fatuma 🇹🇿
fatuma.m***@gmail.com
Hard of hearing, Dar es Salaam

"My hearing started declining two years ago. I use Captio AI in Kisumu for any meeting or appointment where I need to follow spoken Swahili."

Joseph 🇰🇪
joseph.k***@gmail.com
Progressive hearing loss, Kisumu

"Tanzanian Standard Swahili is handled accurately by Captio AI. I use it for work meetings in Arusha. It is the first tool that has actually worked for me."

Grace 🇹🇿
grace.s***@gmail.com
Hard of hearing, Arusha

"My university lectures in Nairobi are in Swahili and English. Captio AI gives me a live caption of whatever language the lecturer is using."

Patrick 🇰🇪
patrick.n***@gmail.com
Deaf, Nairobi

Download for free

Download on theApp Store
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Start captioning in Swahili

Captio AI is free to start

Download for free

Download on theApp Store