Speak. Translate. Type anywhere. Offline.

An app for Mac and Windows that turns your voice into text and translates it, entirely on your computer. Speak in seven languages, translate into eight, record whole meetings, and hold a shortcut in any app to dictate. Nothing you say ever leaves your computer.

Download for Mac Download for Windows

Version 0.4.0 · Free · Mac: Apple Silicon, macOS 12 or later, 6.0 MB · Windows: 10 or 11, x64, 5.6 MB

Or with Homebrew: brew install --cask msdocs/tap/whistle-translator

Private by design, fast by default

Speech recognition and translation both run on your computer's processor. After a one-time model download, it works on a plane, in a basement, or with Wi-Fi switched off.

Dictate into any app

Hold ⌥ Space (Alt+Space on Windows) in Mail, Slack or a browser, speak, release, and your words are typed at the cursor.

Translate as you type

Hold ⌥ ⇧ Space (Alt+Shift+Space) to speak in one language and type in another. A floating pill shows your words as you speak.

Live translation

See the transcript appear as you talk. Each sentence is translated the moment you finish it.

Nothing leaves your computer

No account, no cloud, no telemetry. Your audio and text are processed locally and never uploaded.

Hear it back

Play any translation aloud with your system's built-in voice for that language.

Record meetings

Meeting mode transcribes for as long as you talk, saves a timestamped transcript and its translation as it goes, and keeps your computer awake until you stop.

Transcribe recordings

Open a WAV file of any length and get its transcript and translation.

EnglishGermanFrenchSpanishItalianDutchPolishArabic (translate into)

Install

The app isn't signed by Apple or Microsoft yet, so your computer asks you to confirm it the first time.

Mac, with Homebrew

brew install --cask msdocs/tap/whistle-translator

Update with brew upgrade --cask whistle-translator. Uninstall with brew uninstall --zap --cask whistle-translator, which also removes downloaded models and settings.

Mac, or download it

  1. Download the .dmg, open it, and drag Whistle Translator to Applications. (Homebrew does this step for you.)
  2. Open the app. When macOS says it can't verify the developer, click Done.
  3. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to Security, and click Open Anyway. Then open the app again.
  4. Pick your languages. The speech model (17 MB) and each language (about 150–240 MB) download once.
  5. To dictate into other apps, allow it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility when asked.

SHA-256 of the 0.4.0 download: 29202f0e1254474599de60d56bef24c95e06e42dc5b6c3b76b4491a5db070918

Prefer Terminal? After copying the app to Applications, xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Whistle Translator.app" lets it open normally.

Windows

  1. Download the installer and run it.
  2. If Windows SmartScreen says it protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway.
  3. Pick your languages. The speech model (17 MB) and each language (about 150–240 MB) download once.
  4. Dictate in any app with Alt+Space. No extra permission is needed.

Windows 10 or 11 on x64. SHA-256 of the 0.4.0 installer: 5d462d56543fe3a9580773df89c4c90879f1a57490f4ac25b671dc2731d7e8c1

Start with the Python example

The app grew out of a small Python project: offline speech-to-text and translation in a few lines, from a WAV file, the microphone or a live stream.

whistle-cactus-example →

Whistle and Argos Translate in Python. Transcribe, add word timestamps, and translate between the same seven spoken languages.