Subtitles · Eyes + ears
Subtitles is RainbowSay’s live translation session. It transcribes whatever your Mac is playing — a film, a stream, a Zoom call — or whatever you say into a microphone, and shows the original line plus a translation in up to three languages, in a transparent window that floats over everything. Nothing pauses. The spoken language is detected for you.
Animated demo of a Subtitles session. A Japanese food vlog plays in a video player while a transparent caption window over the lower part of the video streams three lines word by word: the original Japanese, English and Spanish. The speaker says “今日は大阪の商店街に来ています。” (“Today we’re at a shopping street in Osaka.” / “Hoy estamos en una calle comercial de Osaka.”), then “このたこ焼き、外はカリカリで中はとろとろです。” (“These takoyaki are crispy outside and gooey inside.”), then “熱いうちに食べるのが一番ですね。” (“They’re best eaten while they’re still hot.”). Finished sentences move up to a dimmed line as the next one starts. The app’s overlay lists the two translated lanes, English and Spanish, as live; it is then closed with its close button and the subtitles keep running over the video.
Animated demo of a Subtitles session. A Japanese food vlog plays in a video player while a transparent caption window over the lower part of the video streams three lines word by word: the original Japanese, English and Spanish. The speaker says “今日は大阪の商店街に来ています。” (“Today we’re at a shopping street in Osaka.” / “Hoy estamos en una calle comercial de Osaka.”), then “このたこ焼き、外はカリカリで中はとろとろです。” (“These takoyaki are crispy outside and gooey inside.”), then “熱いうちに食べるのが一番ですね。” (“They’re best eaten while they’re still hot.”). Finished sentences move up to a dimmed line as the next one starts. The app’s overlay lists the two translated lanes, English and Spanish, as live; it is then closed with its close button and the subtitles keep running over the video.
How it works
In the floating card, select Subtitles. Under Subtitle languages, keep or add the languages you want to read — 13 to choose from, one at a time on the Free plan and up to three at once on a paid plan. The spoken language is detected automatically; there is nothing to set.
System captions what your Mac plays — everything, or a single app such as your meeting app or your player. Microphone captions you: what you say to a class, an audience or a camera.
A transparent caption window appears on top of everything — fullscreen video included — and fills with the original transcript and its translation as people, or you, speak. Nothing pauses.
Drag the window where you want it, pop a language out into its own window, hide the panel. Afterwards the session is saved as a time-marked transcript with its audio: replay any line, copy the text or export SRT.
Captioning what your Mac plays needs the “System Audio Recording Only” permission; captioning your own voice needs the Microphone permission. Each is asked for the first time it is needed. The app never records your screen.
01 · Real-time transcription and translation
As someone speaks, the words appear: the original line on top, and under it a translation in each language you chose — streaming word by word, a few seconds behind the voice. Finished sentences move up to a dimmed line as the next one starts. 13 languages, and the spoken one is detected for you.
The original, always. The top line is the transcript of what is being said — the reading practice is built in. Turn it off when the room can already hear the original.
Up to three translations at once. Each language is its own live lane, in its own color, with its own show/hide toggle.
No language to set. The spoken language is detected automatically, so a conversation that switches languages keeps its captions.
02 · The caption window
Transparent, always on top, no chrome until you point at it. It floats over fullscreen video, over a call, over a slide. Drag it anywhere and it remembers the spot; it is anchored at its bottom edge, so a caption that grows to two lines rises instead of sliding off the screen.
A pill, or nothing. Each line sits on a translucent dark pill so it stays readable over bright video — or make the window fully transparent.
Pop a language out. Any lane can become its own window and go to the screen that needs it: one language on the projector, another on the display by the door.
Hide and show, mute and stop. The panel hides every caption window without stopping, mutes for an ad or a private word, and stops only after the last sentence has landed.
03 · Calls and meetings
Join the call as usual. Choose System and pick your meeting app, so only the call is captioned — not your music, not a notification. The people speaking on Zoom, Meet, Teams or FaceTime are transcribed and translated as they talk, in a window you drag under the speaker’s video.
One app, not everything. Caption a single app from the list, and nothing else your Mac plays gets in.
Mute the parts in your language. Muted time is never sent and never billed.
Live lanes you can see. The panel lists each language with its state — Connecting…, Live, Reconnecting…, Paused — so you always know where you stand.
04 · From your microphone
Subtitles can listen to you instead of your Mac. Choose Microphone as the source, speak the way you always do, and everyone in the room — or on the stream — reads along in their own language: your words on the Original line, the translations beneath.
Teach in your own words. Explain, give instructions, tell the story: what you say appears on the projector as you say it, translated underneath.
Any microphone. Laptop, headset, lapel or an iPhone via Continuity — pick it from the list with its live level, and set noise reduction to match the room.
Nothing to hold, nothing to set. No push-to-talk, no language to choose: start talking.
05 · Made for a room
Readable from the back row: raise the text size and the window width, give each language its own color so every reader finds their line at a glance, and send a language to its own window on the screen that needs it. Pauses are free — while the class works quietly, nothing is used.
Big, and in color. Text size, width as a share of the screen and per-language colors, with a live preview in Settings.
A window per language. Spanish on the projector, Vietnamese on the display by the door.
Standby in ten seconds. After about ten seconds of silence the session stands by and wakes with your next word; muted time is free.
Who it’s for
Live captions are for following along — whoever is speaking, and whoever needs to read.
Viewers and learners
Teachers and presenters
Creators
Also worth knowing
Every session is kept on your Mac as a time-marked timeline with its translations and, by default, the audio. Replay any line in any language, copy the transcript, export SRT.
Review saved subtitle sessionsAfter about ten seconds without speech the session stands by and sends nothing; it wakes with the next word. Muted time is free too. Left alone for a quarter of an hour, it ends by itself — the limit is yours to set.
Silence, standby and auto-endYour listeners can already hear the original. Turn off Show original line and the translations get the whole window.
Text size, width as a share of the screen, a translucent pill or none, and a color per language — with a live preview in Settings.
Subtitle appearanceQuestions
Something else? Write to [email protected] — a person answers.
Yes. Subtitles caption any app’s audio, so the people speaking on a call are transcribed and translated as they talk. In the session options choose System and pick your meeting app from the list, so only the call is captioned — not your music or notification sounds — then drag the caption window under the speaker’s video. A session has one source: it captions the call or your own microphone, not both at once. The call’s audio is sent to the AI service for translation while Subtitles are on, so make sure that is fine for the meeting you are in.
13: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, German, Korean, Hindi, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Italian. The spoken language is detected automatically, so there is no input language to set — one session can follow a conversation that switches languages.
The original line plus one translation on the Free plan, plus up to three translations at once on a paid plan. Each language is its own live lane with its own color, and any lane can be popped out into its own window — Spanish on the projector, Vietnamese on the display by the door.
Never. Subtitles are the continuous counterpart to Listening: the video, the call or the stream runs exactly as it would without them. The translation trails the speaker by a few seconds, because it needs to hear enough of a sentence to translate it, and finished sentences move up to a dimmed line as the next one starts.
Yes. Choose Microphone as the source, pick your microphone and the noise-reduction setting that matches it, and what you say appears as live captions: your own words on the Original line and a translation under it in each language you chose. Put the window on the projector, a shared screen or in a recording. Afterwards you have a transcript in every language and an SRT file timed to your voice.
Every session is saved on your Mac as a time-marked transcript with its translations and, by default, the audio. On the Dashboard’s Subtitles page you can replay any sentence in any language, copy the transcript, or export SRT per language — timed as spoken, or aligned to the original sentence each line translates.
Subtitles never pause: they stream a live transcript and translation over the video for reading along at full speed. Listening stops at the end of every sentence and gives you a card to study — translation, vocabulary, grammar, replay, chat. Use Subtitles to follow; use Listening to learn a sentence properly. Same app, same allowance.
It is a Mac app, not an extension, so it is not tied to any site or player. The caption window is transparent and always on top — fullscreen video included — with no chrome until you point at it. Drag it anywhere; it remembers the spot, anchored at its bottom edge so a caption that grows to two lines rises instead of sliding off the screen.
No. Captions are for reading: nothing talks over your film or your meeting. If you want the translation spoken, that is what a Listening session does, one sentence at a time.
Every new account gets one-time starter credit — no credit card — to spend on Subtitles, Listening or Speaking. Subtitles bill by the minute of audio they hear; silence and muted time cost nothing. When the credit is used up, you pick a plan in the app. Students, teachers and creators can email [email protected] for extra free credit first.
Macs with Apple Silicon running macOS 14.2 or later. System audio needs the “System Audio Recording Only” permission; the microphone source needs the Microphone permission. The app never records your screen.
Download RainbowSay, pick your languages, and press play on something — or say something — worth reading along to.
No credit card · audio only, never your screen · your history stays on your Mac
Also in RainbowSay
Every plan is one allowance, spent on any mix of the three. See how they fit together.
Transcribe and translate any show, video or podcast on your Mac, one sentence at a time — with the vocabulary and grammar explained.
Practice speaking out loud: your sentence is transcribed, translated back and glossed word by word, with one correction at a time.