Coming soon · a messaging app for families

Say it like
you mean it

Other apps translate your words. Yumi carries everything else — the tone, the jokes, the love underneath — so texting your family finally feels like talking to them.

Join the waitlist ↑ opening soon! See how it works
hi, it's yumi ~ Yumi, a hand-drawn corn kernel, waving hello
🌽
Mom
Chinese → English

Why we built this

Some of the most important
conversations never happen

Over 65 million immigrants in the United States have family they've never fully talked to — not for lack of love, but because language gets in the way. So everyone defaults to short, simple, safe messages. The funny ones, the deep ones, the ones that matter most — those stay unsent.

Yumi exists so they get sent.

"She wants to hear her grandparents' stories — all of them, not the simplified versions. That's who we're building for."

The difference

"Did you eat yet?"

In half the world's families, that question isn't about food. A dictionary translates the words. Yumi translates the love.

你吃饭了吗？
Chinese
¿Ya comiste?
Spanish
Con ăn cơm chưa?
Vietnamese

all of them = "I love you. Are you okay? Call me."

Chinese phrase
望子成龙
wàng zǐ chéng lóng
What a dictionary says
"I wish your child success."
What your mom means
"I've always dreamed of you soaring to the greatest heights — like a dragon."
Dragons are the highest symbol of greatness in Chinese culture. "Wishing success" misses a whole generation of hope riding on four characters.
Spanish phrase
Sana sana, colita de rana
said while patching up a scraped knee
What a dictionary says
"Heal, heal, little frog's tail."
What your abuela means
"These are the magic words that make it all better."
Every Latin American kid knows this rhyme. It's comfort, not amphibians — and a word-for-word translation turns a hug into nonsense.

How it works

Built for the relationship,
not just the message

Yumi translates with the whole conversation in mind — who's talking, what's been said, and what you mean to each other.

Sounds like you

Your humor, your warmth, your chaos — they survive the translation. Messages sound like you, not a dictionary that met you once.

Cultural context, on demand

Hold any message for the story behind it — the history, the meaning, the reason grandma says it that way.

Knows the conversation

A message to your mother lands differently than one to your coworker. Yumi reads the room — the translation should too.

Formality dials

Casual with your cousin, respectful with 奶奶. Set the tone once per chat and Yumi holds it.

Tap to see the original

Every message flips back to the original with a tap — a quiet language lesson inside every conversation.

Made with love

Hand-drawn mascot, hand-written words, hand-built app. Every detail is here because someone's family deserved better.

Language support

Every language, translated.
These get extra love

Yumi can translate between any languages from day one. The ones below get the full treatment — hand-tuned cultural context and an app localized in that language — and the list grows based on who asks.

Specially tuned at launch

🇺🇸 English
🇪🇸 Spanish
🇨🇳 Chinese (Simplified)
🇹🇼 Chinese (Traditional)
🇻🇳 Vietnamese
🇵🇭 Tagalog · soon
🇰🇷 Korean · soon
🇯🇵 Japanese · soon
🇮🇳 Hindi · soon
🌍 Everything else — translated too

Early access

Be first in line

We're building Yumi with families, not just for them. Early families on the waitlist help shape the app before launch.

not open yet — yumi's still cooking! check back soon 🌽