(Seychelles News Agency) - A Seychellois has launched a new translation messaging app and is working to add the Seychelles Creole language as an option.

The app, called ‘Know What I Mean’ or KWIM for short, can translate up to 60 languages and is available for download for both iPhone and Android users.

Neil Gonthier, 26, said he got the idea when he was studying in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

“Students with different languages were having difficulty communicating and I wanted to solve that. During the pandemic, I took a break and came back to Seychelles and this is when I finalised the app.”

Gonthier, who has already patented his app, said, “I was even using KWIM to speak to my teacher who speaks Swahili and he was receiving the messages in his language. KWIM has even started translating a bit of Seychellois Creole as well, the AI (artificial intelligence) is smart and it can adapt and learn.”

He said he is working on having the Creole language of Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, as one of the options and will be added in a more complete form later.

Gonthier is working on having the Creole language of Seychelles as one of the options on KWIM. (KWIM Solutions) Photo License: All Rights Reserved

The app currently has several features available such as messaging, audio video calling as well as an option to form groups.

“All someone has to do to use KWIM is download it from Play Store, install it and fill in their number and language. It works on both iOS and Android phones. Of course for it to work, both people in the conversation should have KWIM installed. There is even an option to send invites and add other people in the app. So far I’ve received many good reviews from friends and other people who have tried out KWIM,” added Gonthier.

When asked about the most challenging part of his journey, Gonthier explained the difficulty of keeping quiet about his idea.

“That was the hardest part, not being able to share my idea until I had my patent in my hand. Because you have to protect yourself from the big international companies who do not have this app,” he said.

Gonthier said that security is an important feature of the app. "The messages are protected with end to end encryption. Furthermore, our app is also designed in a way that it can protect against security breaches.”

Gonthier says that he has great hopes for the future of KWIM and that “KWIM Solutions have many projects that we are working on that I cannot disclose at this moment. However, we plan on adding many more features to the app.”

“I hope people use the app and see for themselves how easy it is to communicate with someone who speaks another language, finally language barrier is a thing of the past,” he added.