Download Typeferry
Free to start. macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel.
Website version
Download it here and update from inside the app. Pro is sold through Creem or Paddle, and you sign in to the app with the email address you used at checkout.
Mac App Store version
Install it from the App Store; updates come through the App Store. Pro is an in-app subscription. Because Mac App Store apps run in Apple’s sandbox, some features work differently: for example, the input bar appears at the bottom of the window instead of following your text cursor, you press ⌃⌥T the first time you use it in each app, and translations are pasted in, so Typeferry borrows your clipboard for a moment and then puts back what was on it.
Pro bought on the website does not work in the App Store version, and an App Store subscription does not work in the website version. See Pricing.
Install the website version
Takes a few minutes.
Open the download
Find the downloaded .dmg file in your Downloads folder and double-click it. A window opens with two icons: Typeferry and the Applications folder.
Move it to Applications
Drag Typeferry onto the Applications folder in the same window. When it has copied, eject the disk image and delete the .dmg file. Always run Typeferry from Applications, not from the disk image. Updates and Open at login only work from there.
Open Typeferry
Open Typeferry from your Applications folder. The first time, macOS asks whether you want to open an app downloaded from the Internet. Click Open.
Typeferry has no Dock icon. It lives in the menu bar as a small speech bubble. A setup window opens with three short steps. The first lets you type a sentence in your language and see the translation before you turn anything on.
Turn on Accessibility
This is the one permission Typeferry needs from the start. While Typeferry is on, it uses it to receive what you type so it can translate it, and to put the translation into the text box you are typing in. What you type isn’t saved, and Typeferry never presses send for you.
In the setup window, click Open System Settings. If macOS shows a prompt, choose Open System Settings there too. Turn on the switch next to Typeferry under Privacy & Security › Accessibility (called Device Control and Data Access in macOS 27 and later). Your Mac may ask for your password or Touch ID. Go back to the setup window; it moves on by itself.
Type your first sentence
By this step Typeferry is already on: its menu bar icon is filled in. Click into a text box and start typing in your language. The bar opens under your cursor and shows the translation. Press Return and it is filled into the box. Nothing is sent: in a chat, press Return again to send it.
Esc hides the bar. Press ⌃⌥T to turn Typeferry off or back on.
Permissions you may need later
Typeferry asks only the first time you use the feature that needs it. If you never use a feature, you never see the request.
| Permission | When macOS asks, and why |
|---|---|
| Screen & System Audio Recording | The first time you use screenshot translation or frame a window. Typeferry explains why, then macOS asks: click Open System Settings, turn on Typeferry, and click Quit & Reopen. The first time Typeferry captures the screen after that, macOS asks once more whether to let it bypass the system window picker and access your screen and audio directly. This is a standard macOS prompt, not an error: click Allow. macOS asks you to confirm again from time to time. Typeferry looks only at the area or window you pick and never records audio. In a few apps whose text box it can’t read, it also uses this to find the box; without it, the bar still works there. |
| Microphone and Speech Recognition | The first time you use voice input. macOS shows one prompt for each; allow both. Typeferry listens only while you hold the voice key. |
Updates and troubleshooting
How do I update Typeferry?
Click the Typeferry icon in the menu bar and choose Check for Updates…. Your settings stay as they are. The Mac App Store edition updates through the App Store.
I can’t see the menu bar icon.
On a MacBook with a notch, a full menu bar can hide icons behind the camera. Quit an app you don’t need in the menu bar, or hold ⌘ and drag icons to make room.
I turned off a permission by mistake.
Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, choose the permission, and turn on Typeferry. The features that need it stop working until you do.
Does voice input work on Intel Macs?
Yes. Voice input runs entirely on your Mac. On some Intel Macs, it becomes available only after you add your language under System Settings › Keyboard › Dictation and macOS has downloaded its speech recognition files.
How do I uninstall Typeferry?
If you use Pro, first sign out in Typeferry to free this Mac’s slot. Then click the menu bar icon, choose Quit Typeferry, and drag Typeferry from your Applications folder to the Trash. You can also remove it from the lists in System Settings › Privacy & Security.