English | Chinese (Simplified)
Native, local-first transcription, live captions, transcript editing, and optional on-device translation for Apple silicon Macs.
LocalScribe can transcribe microphones, audio and video files, and audio playing on your Mac. It combines Apple Speech, whisper.cpp, SenseVoice, NVIDIA Parakeet, Apple Translation, and NLLB behind one native SwiftUI interface.
Important
Developer Beta — testers wanted. The current source version is 1.4.0 (19). GitHub Releases provides an ad-hoc signed, unnotarized Apple silicon build. A Developer ID-signed and notarized binary is not available yet. Please report results and hardware details in GitHub Discussions or Issues.
- Download the latest DMG.
- Open it and drag ShengJi to Applications.
- The first launch will be blocked. After trying once, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway, then confirm Open.
Warning
This build has an ad-hoc integrity signature only. It is neither Developer ID signed nor notarized by Apple. Override the warning only if you trust this repository and its Release. SHA-256 files are included with every Release.
- Local by default. Recognition and optional translation run on the Mac; input audio and imported transcripts are not uploaded by the app.
- More than dictation. Use microphone input, media files, Mac audio, floating live captions, transcript editing, recovery, and subtitle export in one workflow.
- Multiple offline engines. Choose Apple Speech, whisper.cpp with Metal, SenseVoice, or NVIDIA Parakeet instead of being locked to one model family.
- Long-task workflow. Progressive results, append-only recovery journals, bounded transcript rendering, pause/resume, and resumable sessions are designed for long recordings.
- Editable deliverables. Import, search, replace, trim, translate, and export TXT, Markdown, JSON, PDF, SRT, or WebVTT.
- System-aware interface. English and Simplified Chinese switch automatically with the Mac language preference, using an extensible localization structure.
The screenshots are from version 1.4.0 of the real macOS app and use an isolated profile with non-private test transcript content.
The built-in updater shows the running version, update manifest, and update status without hiding implementation details.
The About screen identifies the bundled recognition and translation runtimes, their roles, licenses, and source links.
ShengJi follows the preferred language order in macOS automatically. Version 1.4.0 includes complete English and Simplified Chinese interfaces, localized privacy descriptions, menus, model information, progress states, errors, and inspector values. Localization lives in standard language resource directories, so another language can be added without changing feature code.
| Engine | Use | Runtime |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Speech | Microphone, files, live captions | SpeechAnalyzer / SpeechTranscriber |
| Whisper | Microphone and files | whisper.cpp GGML, Metal with CPU fallback |
| SenseVoice | Files | sherpa-onnx, Core ML eligible path with CPU fallback |
| NVIDIA Parakeet | Files | sherpa-onnx, Core ML eligible path with CPU fallback |
| Apple Translation | Default post-transcription translation | macOS Translation framework |
| NLLB | Optional post-transcription translation | CTranslate2 CPU/int8 |
Whisper file transcription uses the model's internal sliding windows rather than fixed, non-overlapping application chunks. For longer media, the bundled Silero VAD can skip silence while retaining speech padding and overlap. Output filtering considers silence, confidence, repetition, and known hallucination patterns.
- Apple Speech live captions for microphone, Mac audio, or mixed input on macOS 26.
- whisper.cpp Metal inference with bundled Silero VAD and automatic CPU fallback.
- Downloadable Whisper, SenseVoice, and Parakeet model choices.
- Adaptive progressive text display for file and microphone transcription.
- Editable transcripts with search, replacement, selection deletion, and range trimming.
- SRT, WebVTT, TXT, Markdown, and LocalScribe JSON import.
- TXT, Markdown, JSON, PDF, SRT, WebVTT, and clipboard export.
- Apple Translation by default, with optional local NLLB INT8 translation.
- Append-only session journals and recovery snapshots for long-running work.
- A command-line interface for models, transcription, export, and translation.
- macOS 15.5 or later.
- Apple silicon (
arm64); Intel Macs are not supported. - Apple SpeechAnalyzer recognition and live captions require macOS 26.
- On macOS 15.5–25, select Whisper, SenseVoice, or Parakeet manually. SenseVoice and Parakeet currently support file transcription only.
- Live-caption translation is currently disabled; post-transcription translation remains available.
- Public Developer ID signing and Apple notarization are still pending.
Microphone input requires microphone permission. Capturing Mac audio requires Screen & System Audio Recording permission. Apple Speech and Apple Translation may download language assets managed by macOS.
Install Xcode and its Command Line Tools. The repository includes the native runtimes required by the app; large recognition and NLLB models are downloaded only when selected.
ruby generate_project.rb
xcodebuild \
-project LocalScribe.xcodeproj \
-scheme LocalScribe \
-destination 'platform=macOS,arch=arm64' \
buildRun the test suite:
xcodebuild \
-project LocalScribe.xcodeproj \
-scheme LocalScribe \
-destination 'platform=macOS,arch=arm64' \
testCI runs the tests and Release static analysis on GitHub's macOS 26 Apple silicon runner.
The local packaging script creates ZIP and DMG artifacts and validates nested signatures, architectures, deployment targets, embedded Mach-O files, archive extraction, DMG mounting, and helper startup:
./tools/package_local_release.shBy default it uses the configured local certificate. Set CODESIGN_IDENTITY=- to make the same ad-hoc package produced by GitHub Actions. Pushing a tag that matches the version in Info.plist (for example, v1.4.0) runs release-unsigned.yml, verifies the package, and creates the GitHub Release without storing a certificate or password in GitHub Secrets. Developer ID signing, timestamping, notarization, and stapling remain the preferred public distribution path.
ShengJi.app/Contents/MacOS/LocalScribe --cli help
ShengJi.app/Contents/MacOS/LocalScribe --cli models --json
ShengJi.app/Contents/MacOS/LocalScribe --cli transcribe input.mp4 \
--engine whisper --language en_US --format srt --output output.srtLocalScribe does not upload recognition audio or imported transcripts. Network access is used for user-initiated model downloads, update checks, and opening external documentation.
The built-in updater reads update.json from the latest GitHub Release, downloads its ZIP, verifies SHA-256, checks the bundle identifier and version, and asks before replacing the app. This update path is not a substitute for a notarized public release.
LocalScribe source code is available under the MIT License. Third-party components and models retain their original licenses; see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and the license files under Vendor.
The optional NLLB model is distributed upstream under CC-BY-NC-4.0.