Live translation for any call on your Mac

Subtl shows what the other person says as they say it, with the translation on the same line beside it. It works in every call app, because it listens to your Mac rather than to the app.

Download for macOS — free

Original on the left, translation on the right

Every line of the conversation appears as a row: the words as spoken, and your language level with them. You never have to find which translation belongs to which sentence, and nothing is cut off with an ellipsis — long sentences wrap and the window scrolls.

If you would rather read only the original — say, to practise — translation switches off from the window header and the transcript stays.

How fast is it?

The first words usually appear about half a second after they are spoken, and are corrected as the sentence completes. Each line is translated once it ends, so a long monologue arrives as readable sentences rather than as one growing block.

Accuracy is best on clear speech and full sentences, and worse on crosstalk, strong accents and single words. We would rather tell you that than promise perfect translation in any language.

Which languages?

About 30, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Hindi, German, French and Russian. The source language can be detected automatically, and both languages can be changed in the middle of a call.

It works in every call app

Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack huddles, WhatsApp and Telegram desktop, FaceTime, Discord, and a phone call relayed through your Mac. Subtl reads the audio your Mac is already playing, so there is no plugin to install in the call app and no bot that joins the meeting.

What the other side sees

Nothing. No participant is added, no recording notice is sent, and when you share your screen the Subtl windows are excluded from the shared image. A camera pointed at your monitor still sees them.

Compared with the captions built into Zoom and Meet

Zoom and Google Meet both offer translated captions on some plans, when the host enables them, inside their own window. Subtl works whatever the host has set up, in every app, and keeps the transcript afterwards. If the built-in captions cover your calls, they are a fine choice.

Questions

Do I need permission from the meeting host?

No. Subtl does not join the meeting; it reads the audio on your own Mac. Whether you need the other participants' consent depends on the law where you and they are — see the legality page.

Does it translate what I say, too?

It transcribes both sides. The translation shown is into your language; the prompter can suggest an answer in the other person's language.

Is the audio stored?

No. Audio exists in memory and in transit to the recognition service, and is never written to disk or kept on our servers. Recognition can also run entirely on your Mac.