TextSwitcher

A fully local macOS menu bar app that fixes text typed in the wrong keyboard layout: Руддщ Цщкдв! → Hello World!.

• Tap Shift to convert selected text. With no selection, the app converts the entire active text field.
• Shift used for typing or selecting text does not trigger conversion. You can also assign a different shortcut.
• Choose any two keyboard layouts enabled in macOS. Mappings come from the actual system layouts, including alternative and custom layouts.
• Unambiguous letters convert in either direction. When letters have conflicting mappings, the active selected system layout determines the direction.
• Letter case is preserved. Numbers, punctuation, emoji, and letters paired with punctuation keys stay unchanged.
• Optional launch at login. No accounts, analytics, network requests, or external dependencies.
• Interface follows macOS language preferences: English, Russian, Ukrainian, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified or Traditional Chinese. English is the fallback.

Download

Download TextSwitcher-1.3.1-universal.zip from the latest release. Requires macOS 13+, on Apple Silicon or Intel.

1. Unzip and move TextSwitcher.app to Applications.
2. Open the app. This release is signed ad hoc and is not notarized by Apple. If macOS blocks it, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway, then open it again. See Apple's instructions.
3. Enable TextSwitcher in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.

Use the menu bar icon to choose two system keyboard layouts and enable launch at login if desired.

Build & run

Requires macOS 13+ and the Swift 6 toolchain (Xcode Command Line Tools).

swift test
zsh scripts/build.sh
mkdir -p ~/Applications
ditto dist/TextSwitcher.app ~/Applications/TextSwitcher.app
open ~/Applications/TextSwitcher.app

For a universal build supporting both Apple Silicon and Intel, run zsh scripts/build.sh --universal.

Allow TextSwitcher in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility. Settings are available from its menu bar icon.

The app temporarily uses and restores the clipboard. Its temporary writes are restricted to the current Mac and marked as transient and concealed for compatible clipboard managers. Clipboard access is shared with other local apps; fallback copying in custom editors is controlled by that editor and may still be captured or synced. Rich text formatting may change, and some custom editors may not be supported. Builds enable Hardened Runtime and are signed ad hoc; rebuilding may require granting Accessibility access again.

Composition-based input methods, such as Chinese and Japanese IMEs, are not supported. Conversion uses ordinary, Shift, and Caps Lock keys; Option-only characters and dead-key compositions are left unchanged.