Select any text on screen. Translate it instantly.
BubbleTranslate is an Android floating overlay app that lets you select any text on your screen and translate it instantly — no app switching, no copy-paste, no screenshots to crop manually.
Supports two translation modes:
- 🤖 Remote (LLM) — Powered by the Kimi K2.6 Vision API, understands text directly from screen pixels. Great for complex layouts, mixed languages, and UI elements.
- 🌐 Local (Google) — Uses Google Translate for text translation. No API key needed — works for quick lookups and simple text.
- Start — grant overlay + screen capture permissions, configure your translation mode
- Tap — a green bubble appears at the screen edge; tap it on any app
- Select — drag to draw a rectangle around the text you want to translate
- Translate — the selected area is processed and the result appears in a floating panel
- Drag — the translation panel can be dragged anywhere on screen; tap anywhere outside to dismiss
- Floating overlay — works on top of any app (browser, reader, chat, game)
- Dual translation modes — Local (Google, no API key) / Remote (LLM with Vision)
- Vision LLM — no OCR needed; Kimi K2.6 reads text directly from pixels
- Google Translate — text-based translation, no API key required
- Streaming translation — see results appear in real time (remote mode)
- Box-drag selection — precise area selection with corner handles
- Adjustable bubble opacity — 10%–100% via SeekBar
- Copy to clipboard — one-tap copy from the translation panel
- Dark mode support — DayNight theme, readable in any lighting
- Android 8.0+ (API 26)
- For Remote mode: A Moonshot API key (Kimi)
- For Local mode: Internet connection (Google Translate API)
Download the latest APK from Releases.
- Open the app
- Select your preferred translation mode
- For Remote mode: enter your Kimi API key
- Tap Start Translation Bubble
- Grant overlay permission when prompted
- Grant screen capture permission
- The green bubble appears — you're ready!
MIT
The full story of this project's development — 43 commits, 6 critical bug fixes, and 3 iterations on the coordinate-alignment problem — is documented in BubbleTranslate-Development-History.md.