Virtual Chat icon Virtual Chat
Transcribe Smart Phone Audio · Podcasts · Tiktok Live · Online Dating

Virtual Chat

Turn any audio into a conversation.

A real-time audio-to-conversation formatter. It transcribes input and output audio from system or Bluetooth-linked devices (headset, phone, etc.) into a text-based chat format. Add your own AI assistant with a custom prompt, get automatic chat summaries, and keep content flowing for podcasts, live streams, or TikTok Live.

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System & Bluetooth audio AI assistant Auto-summaries Free trial available
Key Features

What Virtual Chat can do

The technology used in Virtual Chat.

  • Transcribe anything – system audio or Bluetooth devices (A2DP/HFP) become live chat messages, so you can connect your phone and transcribe all phone audio to chat — ideal for talking to friends or important interactions online.
  • AI assistant – bring your own OpenRouter key, set a completely custom prompt with no limitations, AI responds according to transcribed messages and the prompt instructions.
  • Auto-summarisation – get concise recaps of long conversations. Choose when assistance and summaries trigger (message count or time limit) and how many messages each one covers.
  • Secure by default – API keys are stored in the system keyring, and built-in speech detection only sends audio once speech is detected — limiting network requests and saving bandwidth.
  • Works with your workflow – perfect for podcasters, streamers, and content creators. Tune transcription with minimum/maximum recording times and silence cut-off.
  • Unlimited model choice – choose from a nearly-unlimited number of Text and Transcription models on OpenRouter, with no token-based usage limits after subscription.
Screenshots

Quick look

A look at the Virtual Chat interface.

Demo

Video tutorial on how to use Virtual Chat

A quick tour of the app, showing how to set up transcription, the AI assistant, and other configurations.

Download & Install

Get Virtual Chat

Virtual Chat is distributed as a self-hosted Flatpak. A .deb package is also available for Debian/Ubuntu users via the Releases page (note: it needs manual updates and uninstalls). We recommend the Flatpak build — continue below.

📦 Flatpak (recommended)

Secure, sandboxed install that works on most Linux distros. Easy to update via Flatpak.

Download .flatpakref

🐧 Debian / Ubuntu (.deb)

Simple download & click install. Requires manual updates and uninstalls.

Go to Releases ↗

1 Install Flatpak

If you don’t already have Flatpak installed:

# Debian / Ubuntu sudo apt install flatpak # Fedora sudo dnf install flatpak # Arch sudo pacman -S flatpak
💡 Tip: After installing Flatpak, you may need to restart your session or log out and back in for application-menu integration to work.

2 Install Virtual Chat

flatpak install --user https://maxkcy.github.io/Virtual-Chat/io.github.maxkcy.virtual-chat.flatpakref

3 Launch the app

flatpak run io.github.maxkcy.virtual-chat

Or search for Virtual Chat in your application menu.

Update

Updating Virtual Chat

Virtual Chat includes a built-in update checker. On launch, the app checks the latest release from GitHub. If a newer version is available, a golden “Update Available: X.Y.Z” banner appears at the top of the chat list.

1 Run the update command

In your terminal:

flatpak update --user io.github.maxkcy.virtual-chat

Or simply update all your user-installed Flatpak apps (including Virtual Chat and any apps from Flathub or other Flatpak remotes):

flatpak update --user

2 Relaunch the app

The “Update Available” banner will disappear:

flatpak run io.github.maxkcy.virtual-chat
Uninstall

Uninstalling Virtual Chat

1 Uninstall the app

flatpak uninstall --user io.github.maxkcy.virtual-chat

2 Remove all app data

Settings, chat history, and cache:

rm -rf ~/.var/app/io.github.maxkcy.virtual-chat/
Pricing

Simple subscription pricing

Virtual Chat is a paid subscription app — a free trial is available. Low and High Tiers run from US$6.99-15.99 per quarter or year, with payments processed by Xsolla.

Low / High Tier

Quarterly / Yearly

US$6.99 – 15.99 per quarter or year

  • Free trial available
  • Payments processed by Xsolla
View subscription plans ↗
💡 OpenRouter API costs: Estimated ~$0.50 per hour during active use, depending entirely on which models are used. OpenRouter provides several free models. We do not get paid through OpenRouter, and no extra hourly charges are added to the subscription plan.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Can smart phone audio be transcribed to chat?
Yes, just connect the phone and headset to the Linux computer via Bluetooth, then configure Linux sound settings for audio input and output to use your Bluetooth connected headset. Select the headset device and start transcribing with AI assistance.
Do I need a Bluetooth adapter?
Only if you plan to use a headset and/or connect phone (strongly recommended). Only adapters that support at least HFP (A2DP strongly recommended) can be used. Virtual Chat automatically detects compatible adapters. Many computers have adapters that support these profiles by default. While many adapters support multiple connected devices, we recommend using different adapters for phone and headset, since we noticed it helps with performance. Make sure to set the adapter to “always visible” in Bluetooth adapter preferences.
Do I need a Bluetooth headset?
No, you can use system audio. However, system audio is experimental. The app has a pre-baked list of audio cards to determine if system audio is available. The app may not have your audio card in its list, but it should support any headset with at least HFP (A2DP strongly recommended).
Does Virtual Chat continuously transmit all audio to OpenRouter while transcription is on?
No. Virtual Chat uses both volume level and a built-in speech-detection algorithm. Audio is only sent when speech is detected. If you're away from the computer, turn off transcription to be safe.
Why is this Linux only?
Linux provides the easiest development path for this kind of app. Windows would require extra features, and Android doesn't allow audio capture. A companion mobile bridge app can be created. Linux is easy to install on your same Windows or Mac computer in dual-boot configuration. We recommend the Linux Mint distro.
Is an internet connection required?
Yes, you need an internet connection for OpenRouter.
Does the app support locally running models?
No. We don't have the infrastructure to build/test local models, and cloud models are more powerful, robust, fast, and affordable. OpenRouter respects your privacy and even offers free models.

⚠️ Known Issues

  • Input and output audio streams on a single Bluetooth adapter causes audio lagging and jittering because both the smart phone, that provides audio, and the headset, that captures audio, are connected and creating multiple input and output audio streams on the same adapter. This may be a hardware limitation, but we are looking into ways to optimize the code. We suggest you connect the smart phone and the headset to different adapters in the meantime to help with the audio lag issue.
  • The transcription system can occasionally crash (rare). If audio suddenly stops being transcribed, it's often caused by rapidly switching app audio (e.g., scrolling videos) or pressing buttons too quickly. Launch the app with terminal to see any error logs, and notify us of any issue. Otherwise simply restart the app and use your computer normally.