Issue with CXSetTranslatingCallAction – "Couldn't communicate with a helper application" error

Question

kishorekumar OP

Created Jul ’25

Replies 3

Boosts 0

Participants 2

Hi Team,

We are encountering issues while implementing the live translation feature in our VoIP application using CallKit on iOS 26.0. Specifically, we are attempting to use the CXSetTranslatingCallAction transaction to enable translation programmatically during an active call.

However, executing this transaction results in the following error:

"Couldn't communicate with a helper application."

This occurs consistently when we attempt to trigger the translation setup without user interaction. We are seeking clarification on the following points:

Is it possible to enable CallKit's live translation feature using CXSetTranslatingCallAction purely programmatically, without requiring the user to interact with the system-provided Call UI?
What does the above error indicate in the context of CXSetTranslatingCallAction? Are there specific conditions, entitlements, or background service requirements that must be fulfilled to communicate with CallKit?

Code snippet:

let translationAction = CXSetTranslatingCallAction(call: callUUID, isTranslating: true, localLocale: Locale.init(identifier: "es-ES"), remoteLocale: Locale(identifier: "en-US"))
let transaction = CXTransaction(action: translationAction)
callController.request(transaction)

We would deeply appreciate any guidance you can provide regarding the feasibility of our approach and how to address this error.

Thank you for your support.

Boost

Answer 1

DTS Engineer OP

Apple

Jul ’25

However, executing this transaction results in the following error: "Couldn't communicate with a helper application."

Can you post the full error message you actually received (error code, domain, etc.)? Also, what API did you actually receive that error back from?

__
Kevin Elliott
DTS Engineer, CoreOS/Hardware

0

Answer 2

kishorekumar OP

Jul ’25

Hi Kevin Elliott,

Have got this error response while trying CXSetTranslatingCallAction transaction as like in code snippet attached. In that callController.request(transaction) throws this error

callController.request(transaction) { error in
}

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Answer 3

kishorekumar OP

Jul ’25

Hi Kevin Elliott,

Here I'm adding the exact error message that I have got while requesting callkit transaction

(Error?) domain: "NSCocoaErrorDomain" - code: 4097 {
  _userInfo = 0x000000012782a220 1 key/value pair {
    [0] = {
      key = 0x00000001f9af9c30 "NSDebugDescription"
      value = 0x0000000114f76d80 "connection to service with pid 144 named com.apple.callkit.callcontrollerhost"
    }
  }
}

And error's description is

Couldn't communicate with a helper application.

Please check and let us know if any further information needed.

Thanks & Regards, Kishore

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