SpeechBee

Guide

Voice translation on a Mac

"Voice translation" covers three different jobs: understanding someone who speaks another language, holding a conversation across two languages, and writing in a language you do not write well. A Mac can do all three, with different tools. Here is which one fits.

By the SpeechBee team, who make SpeechBee. Checked on 24 October 2026

On this page
  1. Which kind of voice translation you need
  2. Translate in macOS
  3. Live Translation in calls and messages
  4. Write in another language by speaking: SpeechBee
  5. Questions
  6. Keep reading
  7. Sources

Which kind of voice translation you need

You want toUseWhere the text ends up
Understand a text someone sent youTranslate in the Control-click menuIn a small pop-up, or replacing the text
Talk with someone across languagesLive Translation in Messages, FaceTime or PhoneOn screen or spoken aloud
Write an email, chat or document in another languageSpeechBee translationAt your cursor, in any app
Translate a recording or a videoA transcription app with translationIn a file

Translate in macOS

macOS can translate any text you select. Control-click it, choose Translate, pick the languages, and you can play the translation, copy it, or replace your own text with it. It is free and works in most apps. Download languages in System Settings, under General, Language & Region, Translation Languages, to translate on the device. It works on text, not on your voice: to write by speaking you would dictate first, then translate, then replace.

Live Translation in calls and messages

On Macs with Apple Intelligence, macOS 26 and later add Live Translation to Messages, FaceTime and Phone for supported languages and regions: messages are translated as they arrive, and calls get translated captions or spoken translations. Check Apple's page for which languages your Mac supports.

Write in another language by speaking: SpeechBee

  • DeutschDanke für das Treffen heute, die Unterlagen folgen morgen.

    →

    FrançaisMerci pour la réunion d'aujourd'hui, les documents suivront demain.

  • EspañolLlego diez minutos tarde, empezad sin mí.

    →

    ItalianoArrivo con dieci minuti di ritardo, iniziate senza di me.

  • EnglishLet's keep this short and decide on Monday.

    →

    DeutschLass uns das kurz halten und am Montag entscheiden.

Dictation goes in one language and comes out in another, at the cursor.

The tools above help you understand. SpeechBee helps you write. It is a dictation app: you hold a key, speak, and the text appears where your cursor is. Turn on translation and that text arrives in another language, in Mail, Slack, Notion, Word, a browser form or anywhere else you can type.

  1. In the menu bar, click the SpeechBee icon and choose a language under Translate To.
  2. Download the language pair when SpeechBee asks. Apple provides it once.
  3. Click where you want the text, hold your dictation key, and speak.
  4. Let go. The translation is typed in for you.

SpeechBee recognises your speech on the Mac, removes filler words, then uses Apple's on-device translation. Nothing goes to a cloud translator, and once a pair is downloaded it works offline.

Voice to text
New message

Hi Maya, I'll send the revised proposal tomorrow morning.

SpeechBee's listening indicator on Mac
Hold your key, talk, let go. The text lands at the cursor.
Text to speech
Article

Most people read faster than they speak. SpeechBee reads the sentence you selected out loud, while you keep working.

SpeechBee's Read Aloud player on Mac
Select text, press your reading key, listen.

The languages

20 languages, in any direction Apple supports: Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Both the language you speak and the one you want must be on this list. It is not limited to English: German to French and Spanish to Italian work too.

To dictate in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Turkish or Vietnamese, turn on SpeechBee's optional Whisper model in Settings first (about 600 MB, also on the device).

What it does not do

SpeechBee translates your own dictation into text. It does not translate other people's speech, calls, meetings or audio files, and it does not speak the translation aloud as you go. You can select the translated text and have it read aloud afterwards. Translation needs macOS 26 and an Apple silicon Mac.

Speak one language, type another. Free for 7 days.

Voice to text and Read Aloud on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. After the week, $9 a month, $79 a year, or $99 once. Every plan has every feature.

Download for MacGet it for iPhone & iPad

Mac, iPhone and iPad. No card needed.

Questions

Is there a voice translator built into the Mac?

macOS translates selected text from the Control-click menu, and Live Translation translates Messages, FaceTime and Phone calls on Macs with Apple Intelligence. Apple Dictation itself types only the language you speak. To get translated text into any app as you speak, you need a dictation app with translation, such as SpeechBee.

Can I translate speech to text in another language on a Mac?

Yes. With SpeechBee you speak in one language and the text appears in another, in any app. It runs on the device on macOS 26 and covers Apple's 20 translation languages.

Does voice translation work offline on a Mac?

macOS can translate selected text offline once you download the languages in System Settings. SpeechBee works offline once the language pair is downloaded, because both speech recognition and translation run on your Mac.

Can a Mac translate a meeting or a phone call live?

Live Translation covers calls and messages in supported Apple apps and languages. SpeechBee does not translate meetings or calls; it translates what you dictate.

Keep reading

Sources