Before you start
Typeme does two things: it reads the text you select, and it shows a small panel next to it. Both depend on macOS permissions, so the first launch asks for the minimum it needs.
- macOS 13 Ventura or later on Apple silicon or Intel.
- Accessibility permission for reading selected text and writing a result back.
- Screen Recording permission only if you use ⌥S region capture. macOS asks the first time you press it.
- No account and no key if you keep the default Typeme Cloud provider.
Install the app
Download the build that matches your Mac. Both are universal in behaviour; the Apple silicon build is the one most people want.
Open the disk image, drag Typeme into Applications, and launch it from there. Keep it in Applications rather than running it from the disk image: permissions are tied to the app bundle, and macOS handles updates more predictably.
Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll to the security section, and choose Open Anyway for Typeme. This is the standard warning for an app downloaded outside the App Store.
Grant Accessibility access
When Typeme starts, it opens a short onboarding window. The first step is the Accessibility permission — without it the app can see that you pressed the shortcut, but not the text you selected.
- In the onboarding window, choose Open System Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security › Accessibility.
- Turn on Typeme. If it is not in the list, click + and add it from Applications.
- Return to Typeme. The onboarding window advances on its own.
You can tell the permission is missing from the menu-bar icon: a triangle means the current build cannot read selected text; the normal speech-bubble icon means it can.
Finish onboarding
The remaining steps are choices, not configuration chores:
-
Context folder. Defaults to
~/.config/Typeme. This is whereprofile.md,stories/, anddaily/live. Pick a folder you can back up or sync, and open it later from the menu-bar menu. - AI provider. The default is Typeme Cloud, which needs no key. You can switch to Anthropic, DeepSeek, OpenAI, a local model, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint now or later — see Bring your own model.
- Shortcut. ⌥D opens the panel for selected text. ⌥S is reserved for region capture. Both can be changed in Settings.
Translate your first selection
Open an app with text — Slack, Mail, Notes, a browser — and select a sentence you want to translate. Then:
- Press ⌥D. The panel opens next to your selection, not in the middle of the screen.
- The last action you used runs automatically. On a fresh install that is Translate.
- The result streams into the panel. The default Translate action converts between Chinese and English, using the language of the source to pick the direction.
- Press ⌘C to copy the result, or ⌘Return to replace the selected text in the app you came from.
If the text is in an image, a video call, or an app that does not expose a selection, skip the selection and press ⌥S to capture a screen region instead. That workflow is covered in Translate text from a screenshot.
Learn the panel keys
The panel is designed to be used without the mouse. These are the keys worth memorising in the first week.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tab / ⇧Tab | Move between actions without running one. The name appears briefly under the buttons. |
| ⌘1 ⌘2 ⌘3 | Run the first, second, or third action directly. |
| Return | Run the selected action again, for example after editing the source text. |
| ⌘C | Copy the result when no text is selected in the result area. |
| ⌘Return | Write the result back into the original app and close the panel. |
| ⇧Return | Insert a newline in the source text instead of running. |
| ↑ / ↓ | Recall the previous panel's text, result, and context when the cursor is on the first or last line. |
| Esc | Close the panel. Clicking outside or pressing the shortcut again also works. |
| ⌘, | Open Settings. |
The full reference, including history navigation and rebinding, is in Keyboard shortcuts.
If the shortcut does nothing
Work through these in order; the first two account for almost every report.
- Check the menu-bar icon. A triangle means Accessibility is not granted to the build you are running. Re-grant it in Privacy & Security › Accessibility.
- Re-add the app. Select Typeme in the Accessibility list, click −, then add it again from Applications. This clears a stale entry after an update or a move.
- Check the selection. Some apps expose text only after a short delay, and some custom-drawn views expose nothing. Use ⌥S region capture for those.
- Check for a shortcut conflict. Another menu-bar app may already own ⌥D. Change it under Settings › Actions (the shortcut belongs to an action) or under Settings › Input.
- Read the log. Choose Open Log from the menu-bar menu. The log records the capture method, OCR, decision latency, time to first token, and error details. Raise the level under Settings › Advanced if you need more.
If permissions reset after installing a new build, macOS is treating it as a different app. Remove the old Typeme entry from Accessibility, add the new build, and relaunch. Typeme also shows a one-time notice with a direct link when it detects this.
Next steps
Setup is done. The two guides that change how useful the app feels are the ones about context and about translating in place.
- Translate selected text in any app — the everyday workflow, plus how to change the language pair.
- How Typeme remembers — what
profile.md, stores, and the daily log actually do. - Bring your own model — switch off Typeme Cloud and use your own key.