Live translation
The translation follows right under what you hear
SpeechShield shows what's said in video calls, lectures and videos as original and translated captions. Translate on your Mac for free, and the audio never leaves it.
Apple silicon Mac, macOS 26 or later. Start free, no card required.
What it does
Follow meetings in another language, in yours
Your Mac's audio, as is
Listen to your mic, the sound your Mac plays, or both. You can also listen to a single app only.
Original and translation together
As each sentence finishes, its translation appears under the original, in the order it was said. Show both, the translation only, or the original only.
Change languages mid-session
Switch the source and target languages from the toolbar. The sentence in progress finishes in the old language, and what's already translated stays as it is.
Captions only
Put the overlay in Script Only mode and a single caption window sits over your video. Choose opacity, glass effect, and light or dark.
Captions on your phone
Read the same captions on a phone paired by QR code. Text size and auto-scroll are set on the phone.
Notes and history
Press ⌘⇧N to leave a note at the current time. Review finished sessions in your history and export them as .speechshield files.
Unfamiliar terms in a line
Hover over a caption and click the book icon to open its words as chips, then pick one for a one-line explanation in your translation language. Choose a meeting context as the glossary on Home, and glossary terms show at once, without AI.
Catch up on what you missed
Press ⌘⇧' for a short summary of the last few minutes, in your translation language, above the captions.
Where it translates
On your Mac, or in the cloud
This Mac
Uses macOS speech recognition and translation. It's free, works offline once you're signed in and the language models are downloaded, and the audio never leaves your Mac. You pick one source language.
SpeechShield-hosted AI
Realtime translation with no setup. It detects the source language and keeps up when speakers switch. Free includes a one-time trial, Pro includes 1,200 minutes a month, and Max is unlimited (fair use).
Your own API key
Use a Soniox or OpenAI key for realtime translation. You pay the provider directly.
Translation languages
Translate into 13 languages
Speech recognition supports more than 50 languages. On your Mac, you can pick from the languages macOS supports. Translations come out in these languages.
- Korean
- English
- Japanese
- Chinese
- Spanish
- French
- German
- Italian
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Hindi
- Indonesian
- Vietnamese
Works with
Any app that plays sound
Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex, Slack huddles, YouTube, and lectures in Safari or Chrome. If your Mac plays it, SpeechShield can translate it.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can I translate for free?
Yes. Sign in with a free account, then choose This Mac in AI settings to use macOS speech recognition and translation for free. A download button appears the first time you use a language pair.
Do I have to choose the source language?
With SpeechShield-hosted AI or your own API key, it's detected for you. On your Mac, you pick one source language, and you can change it mid-session.
Which languages are supported?
Speech recognition understands more than 50 languages. Translations are available in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Hindi, Indonesian and Vietnamese.
Can I use it like video subtitles?
Yes. In Script Only mode the overlay is just a caption window, and the controls appear only when you hover over it.
Which devices does it work on?
An Apple silicon Mac (M1 or later) on macOS 26 or later. Phones connect through iOS Safari or Android Chrome on the same Wi-Fi.
Where is my data stored?
Session history is encrypted on your Mac. When you translate on your Mac, the audio never leaves it; cloud translation goes only to the AI you choose.