Who builds the Tova apps?

Tova is built and maintained by ZET Studios, a functionality-driven web and app studio in Langley, BC that designs, engineers and ships products end-to-end.

Tova — Offline Translator & Language-Learning Apps (iOS)

The opening

Everyone has a translator. None of them works where it matters.

Google, Apple and DeepL all translate — yet none works properly for the 100M+ travellers and overseas Chinese moving in and out of mainland China, where Google's services are blocked outright. Tova Translate fills that void: fully on-device camera and voice translation that needs no VPN and no connection to blocked services. Then a single "Learn this" hand-off turns the words you look up into a daily study habit. Three apps, one engine, one underserved audience.

The apps

Three apps, one connected system.

Tova Translate

Travel · 118 languages · Free

The offline-first camera and voice translator for travellers and the Chinese diaspora. Point your camera at a menu, sign or contract and read it instantly; speak and be understood out loud.

Offline camera OCR + voice translation that works in China with no VPN
118 languages with per-character pinyin, romaji and Jyutping readings
On-device Whisper speech recognition and neural translation — your words never leave the phone
Two-way conversation mode and a Boardroom 3-way mode for meetings

Download Tova Translate on the App Store ↗ Learn more about Tova Translate →

Tova Learn Chinese

Education · Hanyu Pinyin · HSK 1

Learn one Chinese character a day — wake to it, trace it by hand, and speak it aloud. Built for absolute beginners and heritage learners who want characters to stick, not flashcards to forget.

One character a day: wake, trace the real stroke order, then speak
On-device Whisper pronunciation check on every character
Hanyu Pinyin and HSK 1 foundations, 150 starter characters
Words you save in Tova Translate flow straight into your deck

Download Tova Learn Chinese on the App Store ↗ Learn more about Tova Learn Chinese →

Tova Learn Japanese

Education · Hiragana → JLPT N5

The same daily engine, rebuilt for Japanese: from hiragana and katakana through to JLPT N5 kanji, with romaji support the whole way.

Hiragana → katakana → JLPT N5 kanji, one a day
Trace real stroke order and verify pronunciation on device
Romaji readings throughout for early learners
Korean and Cantonese siblings planned on the same engine

Download Tova Learn Japanese on the App Store ↗ Learn more about Tova Learn Japanese →

Why it works

The translator feeds the classroom.

One product becomes three. Most people translate a word, use it once, and forget it. Tova closes that loop: every phrase you save in Tova Translate is published to a shared on-device corpus, and the matching Tova Learn app picks it up as something to study. The translator you reach for on a trip quietly becomes the reason you can read the language next time. That's the kind of cross-product thinking ZET Studios brings to its own apps — and to client builds.

FAQ

Common questions

Does Tova Translate work in China without a VPN?

Yes. Tova Translate runs translation on-device, so its core camera and voice translation keep working inside mainland China with no VPN and no connection to blocked services.

Is Tova Translate free?

Tova Translate is free to download with optional Pro features. It covers 118 languages with camera OCR, voice translation and per-character pinyin, romaji and Jyutping readings.

How do the Tova Learn apps teach characters?

Tova Learn Chinese and Japanese give you one character a day to wake to, trace by hand and speak aloud, with on-device Whisper speech verification checking your pronunciation. Words you save in Tova Translate flow straight into your study deck.

Who builds and maintains Tova?

Tova is built and maintained by ZET Studios, a functionality-driven web & app studio in Langley, BC that designs, engineers and ships products end-to-end.

Tova — translate the world,
then learn it.