How to use Khotba Translate

1What you need

• A smartphone with internet (Wi-Fi or 4G) and a charger. It listens to the speaker.
• A screen that can show a web page: a smart TV, a projector, or a TV with a laptop connected.
• Useful: a second phone for someone in the hall who can pause. The speaker cannot do that while speaking.

2One-time setup

1. Log in to the dashboard. Under Your links you find four links: phone, remote control, screen and archive.
2. The phone link is secret: whoever has it can start the translation and use your credit. Send it only to the phone that lies next to the speaker. The control link can only pause and is safe to give to a board member.
3. Open the phone link and choose Add to home screen in the browser menu. It is then ready as an app. On an iPhone: use Safari, not Chrome.
4. Decide whether the QR code may be shown on the screen (visitors then read along on their own phone). By default it is switched off automatically on Fridays.

3Five minutes before it starts

1. Open the screen link on the TV or laptop. The border turns blue: connected. Choose Full screen and set the text size with A− and A+; check it from the back row.
2. Open the phone page. You see the credit. Allow the browser to use the microphone if it asks.
3. Place the phone close to the speaker and connect it to the charger.
4. Always place the phone as close to the speaker as possible; that gives the best translation. If that is really impossible and the phone can only hear the speaker through the PA system, switch on I am using a recording or loudspeaker and place the phone close to the loudspeaker. Expect a less accurate translation because of noise and echo. Otherwise leave it off.
5. Open the control link on the second phone and keep it at hand.

4During the khutbah or lecture

1. Tap the large button to start. The screen turns green: live. The ring around the button moves with the sound, so you can see the phone hears the speaker.
2. Does the speaker briefly use another language than Arabic? Tap Pause, on the phone or on the remote control, and resume as soon as it is Arabic again. That keeps nonsense off the screen.
3. Sometimes a notice appears: It sounds like another language. It is a helper; you decide whether to pause.

• Green: live, translating.
• Yellow: paused.
• Blue: connected and ready, nothing is running yet.
• Red (flashing): the screen has no internet.

5Afterwards

• Tap the red button and confirm stop. You see how long it took and how much credit is left.
• Credit runs from start to stop, including pauses. So do not forget to stop. A session stops by itself after three hours.
• The translated text is then in the archive, so the community can read it again.

6If something does not work

No text appears on the screen.

Check on the phone whether the ring moves. If it does not, place the phone closer to the speaker or the loudspeaker. Is the translation paused (yellow)? Then resume.

The phone says the link is not valid.

Someone created new secret links. Get the new phone link from the dashboard.

The border of the screen is red.

The TV or laptop has no internet. As soon as the connection is back it continues by itself.

Can we test with a YouTube video?

Preferably not. Khotba Translate is made for a real voice: so test as you would on Friday, with someone speaking Arabic and the phone close to the speaker. Through a loudspeaker, noise and echo reduce the quality of the translation, so the test gives a misleading picture. If there is really no other way, switch on the recording or loudspeaker option, play the video on another device (preferably a TV or laptop) and place the phone close to the loudspeaker. Playing it on the same phone does not work.

It says the credit has run out.

Take out a subscription or buy credits in the dashboard (pay with iDEAL). The balance is ready within seconds.

The translation is not entirely right.

The translation comes from a computer and can make mistakes, especially with unclear audio or names. See it as an aid; the words of the speaker take precedence.