Mac translation · automatic flashcards · on-device
Learn a language by going about your day.
FluentOS lives in your menu bar. Point at any word on your screen, press your hotkey, such as ⌥ Space, and the translation appears right where you are — no app switching, no typing, no account. Every word you look up quietly becomes a flashcard in your personal deck.
Free to try — 20 lookups a day.
Premium from $17.99/year (~$1.50/mo). Requires macOS 15+.
The view from here is wonderful
How it works
One hotkey. That's the whole app.
Point and press
See a word you don't know — in an article, an email, a menu, anywhere on your Mac. Put your cursor on it and press your assigned hotkey, like ⌥ Space. Select a whole sentence first and FluentOS translates the passage instead.
Read it where you are
The translation appears in a small overlay next to your cursor and fades away on its own. No window steals your focus, no tab opens, and you never leave what you were doing.
It's already a flashcard
Every lookup is saved to your review deck automatically. Gentle reminders — as often or as rarely as you like — resurface your words until they stick. Export to Anki or CSV anytime.
Features
Translate anywhere on your Mac. Keep the words you learn.
Nothing leaves your Mac
Translation runs entirely on-device with Apple's Translation framework. No internet required, no API keys, no account, and no one can see what you read.
Words and passages
Press the hotkey over a single word for a quick meaning, or select any sentence for a full translation — with the direction detected automatically, English to your language or back.
Works everywhere
Native apps, browsers, PDFs, even apps that hide their text — when standard accessibility fails, FluentOS falls back to on-device OCR and reads the pixels instead.
A deck that builds itself
You never file anything. Each lookup becomes a card with the word, its translation, and when you met it. Flip through them, mark what you know, delete what you don't want.
Reminders on your schedule
Flashcard notifications from every 15 minutes to once a day — answer "I know this" or "review again" right from the notification, without opening anything.
Your words are yours
Export your whole deck — or just this month's words — as Anki-ready text or CSV. Track lookups, reviews, and your streak in the built-in stats panel.
Languages
Nine languages, ready to learn.
Pick your target language once. FluentOS downloads the on-device model and translates in both directions between English and your language.*
- 🇪🇸Spanish
- 🇫🇷French
- 🇩🇪German
- 🇮🇹Italian
- 🇧🇷Portuguese
- 🇷🇺Russian
- 🇯🇵Japanese
- 🇰🇷Korean
- 🇨🇳Chinese (Simplified)
*Japanese, Korean, and Chinese currently translate from English into the language.
Pricing
Try it free. Keep it for about $1.50 a month.
Download is free. Premium is unlocked inside the app — no separate checkout, no account to create.
Free
Everything you need to see if it clicks.
- 20 lookups every day
- Word and passage translation
- All nine languages
- On-device and private
Premium — Yearly
About $1.50 a month.
- Unlimited lookups every day
- Review deck with flashcards
- Flashcard reminder notifications
- Anki & CSV export
Monthly or Lifetime
Or $79.99 once — yours forever.
- Same Premium features
- Monthly: cancel anytime
- Lifetime: one purchase,
nothing to manage
Questions
Frequently asked
Does my reading get sent anywhere?
No. Translation runs on your Mac using Apple's on-device Translation framework. FluentOS has no server, no account system, and no analytics. Your flashcards are a local file in your Library folder. The only network the app touches is checking for app updates.
Why does it need Accessibility permission?
That's how FluentOS reads the word under your cursor or your current text selection — the same macOS API that screen readers use. Optionally, you can grant Screen Recording so the OCR fallback can read text in apps that don't expose it (some browsers' UI, PDFs, games). Both permissions stay on your Mac; nothing is captured or stored beyond the moment of lookup.
Do I need to be online?
Only once, to download your language's translation model when you pick it. After that, lookups work entirely offline — on a plane, in a café with bad Wi-Fi, anywhere.
What Macs does it run on?
FluentOS requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later. It's a notarized, Developer ID-signed app distributed directly — download, drag to Applications, done. Updates arrive automatically inside the app.
How does the free tier work?
You get 20 lookups a day, every day, forever — enough to see whether the habit forms. Premium removes the cap and unlocks the review deck, reminders, and export. You upgrade inside the app; subscriptions are handled by Apple and can be cancelled anytime.
Can I take my flashcards with me?
Yes. Export your deck as a CSV or as an Anki-ready text file that Anki's import dialog reads natively. Filter by status or date range before exporting. Your words are never locked in.
The next word you don't know
could be the first one you keep.
Download FluentOS for macOS
Version 1.0 · Free to try · macOS 15+ · Notarized by Apple