SwiftyCrow

On-screen translator for macOS, fully on-device. Captures any region of the screen with ScreenCaptureKit, recognizes text with Vision, and translates with the Apple Translation framework. No cloud APIs, no keys, no quotas.

Features

• Lives in the menu bar: There is no Dock icon. Open the popover from the menu bar item, or press ⌘, for Settings.
• Region capture: Drag to select any part of the screen, or press Space to highlight and click a whole window like the macOS screenshot tool. The result appears in a floating preview with each line blurred behind its translation. Save the image, copy it, or copy the original or translated text.
• Live overlay: Pick a target the same way and an overlay snaps onto it, translating as the content changes. Clicks and scrolling pass through to the app underneath. The built-in LIVE handle pauses or resumes translation, and × closes it. Show the translation in place over the source, or in a separate window while the overlay stays a thin region frame.
• Predefine an area, translate on demand: The overlay remembers its region, so Show / hide overlay flips translation on and off over the same spot without another selection. This works well for a game panel or fixed HUD. Hiding it stops all capture and translation until you bring it back.
• Reads the layout: Recognition follows document structure. Vertical Japanese or Chinese and multi-column text are read in reading order, and vertical text stays vertical over the original.
• Instant re-captures: Translating the same screen again uses cached results.
• Languages from your Mac: Source and target lists come from the languages installed on your system. Pick a pair, or set the source to Auto for per-line detection on mixed-language screens.
• Two translation modes: Choose Low latency for speed or High fidelity for Apple Intelligence where supported on macOS 26.4 and later.
• Customizable shortcuts: Configure capture, live overlay, show or hide on the last region, pause or resume Live, display mode, and save or copy keys in Settings → Shortcuts.
• Launch at login: Start SwiftyCrow automatically when you log in.
• Editable config file: Hand-edit a plain-text file that stays synchronized with the in-app Settings.

Install

Requires macOS 26+.

Homebrew (recommended):

brew install --cask PangMo5/tap/swiftycrow

Direct download: grab the latest .dmg from the Releases page, open it, and drag the app to Applications.

On first launch, grant Screen Recording permission in System Settings → Privacy & Security, then relaunch the app. The app keeps itself up to date afterward.

Usage

1. Pick the Source and Target languages in Settings (⌘,).
2. Capture a region: Trigger Capture Region from the popover or your hotkey, then drag over the text. You can also press Space to highlight and click a whole window. The preview supports ⌘S to save, ⌘C to copy the image, ⌘O to copy the original, ⌘T to copy the translation, and Esc to close.
3. Use the live overlay: Trigger Live overlay… from the menu bar or your hotkey, then drag a region or press Space to click a window. Use the LIVE handle to pause or resume, ⌘C to copy the joined translation, and × to close.
4. Reuse a fixed area: Once the overlay is placed, Show / hide overlay toggles it over the same region without another drag. Hiding it stops all capture and translation.

All hotkeys are customizable in Settings → Shortcuts.

Troubleshooting

"Unable to translate" or a missing-model hint

SwiftyCrow translates with Apple's on-device Translation framework, which needs a language model installed for each language you translate. If translation fails or SwiftyCrow shows a "Translation model not installed" hint, the model for the detected language usually is not downloaded yet.

To install translation models:

1. Open System Settings → General → Language & Region
2. Scroll down to Translation Languages…
3. Click Download next to your source and target language (1–3 GB each). With Auto source, install every language that might appear in your captures
4. Relaunch SwiftyCrow and try again

The in-app hint has an Open Settings button that jumps straight there, plus Don't show again once you no longer need the reminder. Models are managed by macOS and stored locally. Remove unused models from the same panel to free disk space.

For more details, see docs/LANGUAGE_MODELS.md.

Configuration

Settings live in ~/.config/SwiftyCrow/config.toml, grouped into tables that mirror the in-app Settings tabs: [capture], [languages], [overlay], [shortcuts], [translation], and [updates]. Edits made in the app or by hand are kept in sync.

See docs/CONFIGURATION.md for the full reference: every key, its default, and the shortcut syntax.

Development

Requirements

• macOS 26+
• Xcode 26+ / Swift 6.3+
• mise (manages Tuist + SwiftFormat versions via .mise.toml)

Building from source

export TUIST_DEVELOPMENT_TEAM=YOUR_TEAM_ID   # your Apple Developer Team ID
mise install               # installs Tuist + SwiftFormat
tuist install              # resolves SPM dependencies
tuist generate             # generates the Xcode workspace
open SwiftyCrow.xcworkspace

TUIST_DEVELOPMENT_TEAM makes the Debug build sign with the same Apple Development certificate every time. Skip it and macOS will treat each build as a new binary and re-prompt for Screen Recording permission on every launch. Persist it in your shell profile or in ~/.mise.local.toml:

[env]
TUIST_DEVELOPMENT_TEAM     = "YOUR_TEAM_ID"
TUIST_SPARKLE_PUBLIC_ED_KEY = "YOUR_SPARKLE_PUBLIC_KEY"

SPARKLE_PUBLIC_ED_KEY is baked into Info.plist at generate time so the app can verify update signatures. For local debug builds it can be empty.

Tech stack

• Tuist generated workspace (Project.swift, Tuist/Package.swift)
• TCA (swift-composable-architecture) for app + capture state, with dependencies wired through @DependencyClient
• swift-sharing with a fileStorage strategy bridged to swift-toml
• Magnet for global hotkey registration, plus a small custom recorder view
• Sparkle for in-app updates
• Apple Vision for OCR, Apple Translation for translation, ScreenCaptureKit for capture
• Source style enforced by the Airbnb SwiftFormat configuration in .swiftformat

License

Mozilla Public License 2.0. Originally MIT (2021), then relicensed to MPL-2.0 in 2026.

MPL-2.0 is file-level copyleft: modifications to existing source files must remain under MPL-2.0, but you can add new files under any compatible license. App Store distribution is supported.