Offline Language Translation on Your Mobile Device

To use your phone for translation using a local Large Language Model (LLM) without an internet connection, you’ll need to follow these steps:

Choose a Suitable LLM:

Select a language model that can run locally on your phone. Some options include OpenAI’s GPT models, Facebook’s M2M-100, or smaller models like MarianMT that are designed for translation tasks.

Download the Model:

You will need to download the LLM and all necessary data to your phone. Ensure the model you choose is compatible with your device’s hardware and storage capacity.

Install Necessary Software:

For Android, you might use apps like Termux to create a Linux-like environment where you can run Python and other dependencies.
For iOS, consider using apps like Pythonista or Carnets, which allow you to run Python scripts on your device.

Set Up the Environment:

Python: If you don’t already have it, install Python on your phone.
Dependencies: Install any required libraries such as transformers, torch, or tensorflow. Use a package manager like pip within your environment to install these libraries.

pip install transformers torch

Load and Use the Model: Write a Python script to load the model and use it for translation. Here’s a simplified example using the transformers library:

from transformers import MarianMTModel, MarianTokenizer

# Load the model and tokenizer
model_name = 'Helsinki-NLP/opus-mt-en-de'  # Example for English to German
tokenizer = MarianTokenizer.from_pretrained(model_name)
model = MarianMTModel.from_pretrained(model_name)

def translate(text, model, tokenizer):
    # Tokenize the input text
    inputs = tokenizer(text, return_tensors="pt", padding=True)
    # Generate translation using the model
    translated = model.generate(**inputs)
    # Decode the translated tokens
    translated_text = tokenizer.decode(translated[0], skip_special_tokens=True)
    return translated_text

# Example usage
input_text = "Hello, how are you?"
translated_text = translate(input_text, model, tokenizer)
print(f"Translated text: {translated_text}")

Run the Script: Execute your translation script within the environment on your phone.

User Interface (Optional): For a more user-friendly experience, consider creating a simple app UI using frameworks like Kivy for Python to handle text input and display translations.

Example Workflow on Android Using Termux

Install Termux:

Download Termux from the Google Play Store or F-Droid.

Set Up Python and Dependencies:

pkg update
pkg install python
pip install transformers torch

Write and Run Your Script:

Create a Python script by editing a file using nano or another text editor within Termux.

nano translate.py

Paste the Python code (from Step 5) into translate.py, save, and exit.
Run the script:

nano translate.py

By following these steps, you can effectively use your phone for offline translation using a local LLM.

Marc Filias