Soon

Bilinguine

Bilinguine is a small translator for the Mac. Select text in any app, press a shortcut and read the translation in a compact window next to the cursor. It runs on Apple's on-device translation and the dictionaries on your Mac, so nothing you translate leaves it.

Not published yet

Platform: macOS 26 (Tahoe) or newer
Status: Soon
Mode: Offline
Languages: 22

How it works

Select text in any app: a browser, a terminal, an editor, a PDF.

Press ⌃⌥T, or a shortcut of your own. A compact window opens next to the cursor with the translation.

Read it, then close the window with Esc, ✕ or the same shortcut. Pin it to keep it above other windows.

Who it's for

For people who read on a Mac in more than one language and want a quick translation without opening a browser or sending text to an online service.

What it can do

Translates selected text in any app with one global shortcut, ⌃⌥T by default. When you record your own, it warns if macOS or another app already uses it.

22 languages from Apple Translation. The language of the text is detected automatically; your main and second language are picked from the system languages and keyboard layouts, and any pair can be set by hand.

A single word also gets entries from the dictionaries on your Mac.

Longer texts keep their paragraphs, blank lines and indents. Text without words, such as numbers, links or emoji, is left as it is.

Translates as you type or paste into the window, no button needed.

Also works through right-click → Services → Translate with Bilinguine in native Mac apps, and, if you turn it on, by pressing ⌘C twice.

History, read-aloud, a pin that keeps the window on top, Dock and menu bar icons, launch at login. English and Russian interface, with a light or dark look set apart from the rest of macOS.

Privacy

The app makes no network connections at all. Translation runs on Apple's on-device engine, definitions come from the dictionaries on your Mac, and macOS downloads each language pack once. History keeps the last 50 translations on your Mac only and can be turned off or cleared.

Requirements

macOS 26 (Tahoe) or newer, on Apple silicon or Intel.

A one-time download of the language packs you need, done by macOS itself.

The macOS Accessibility permission, so the shortcut can copy the selection. A four-step guide on first launch walks you through it.

Honest status

The app is built and runs on macOS 26. Checked on screen: the translation window, long texts with paragraphs, single words with dictionary entries, the settings and the Services menu item.

The app is not published and there is no download. Not everything has been tested live yet: copying a selection by the shortcut, double ⌘C and launch at login.

Finish the live testing. Whether and when the app is published is not decided.

Questions

Does it work without the internet?

Yes. Once macOS has downloaded the language packs, translation and dictionaries need no network, and the app itself never connects to it.

Which Mac does it need?

macOS 26 (Tahoe) or newer, on Apple silicon or Intel.

Why does it ask for the Accessibility permission?

To copy the selected text when you press the shortcut. Without it you can still type or paste text into the window, or use Services.

Can I change the shortcut?

Yes. It has to include ⌃ or ⌥, and the recorder tells you if macOS or another app already uses the combination.

Where can I download it?

Nowhere yet: the app has not been published.