Retype

macOS menu bar app that converts mistyped text between keyboard layouts.

Typed ghbdtn when you meant привіт? Select the text, double-press the trigger key — Retype swaps it instantly.

Works with any two keyboard layouts installed on your Mac.

Install with Homebrew

brew tap bobjer/retype
brew install --cask retype

To install a newer release later:

brew update
brew upgrade --cask retype

No Apple Developer account is needed. Retype is built for local self-use and is ad-hoc signed.

First launch: go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and enable Retype.

Usage

1. Type text in the wrong layout
2. Select it
3. Double-press the trigger key (default: Left Shift)

The text is replaced with the correct layout version automatically.

Settings

Click the RT icon in the menu bar → Settings:

• From / To layout — two distinct layouts to convert between
• Direction — safe automatic detection, or an explicit direction for mixed text
• Convert Option/Alt characters — include characters typed with Option/Alt, enabled by default
• Trigger key — Left Shift, Right Shift, Left Control, Left Option, Left Command
• Timeout — how fast the double-press must be (0.2–1.0 s)
• Cmd+A+A — alternative trigger: hold ⌘, press A twice (selects all + converts)
• Launch at login — start Retype automatically

The Settings window includes a sample-text preview. Automatic mode leaves ambiguous or mixed-layout text unchanged instead of guessing.

Requirements

• Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 26 Tahoe or later
• Accessibility permission (for receiving global keyboard events and replacing selected text)

How it works

Retype uses global keyboard events to detect the double-press, copies the selected text via Cmd+C, remaps each character between the two layouts using the system's own keyboard layout data (UCKeyTranslate), then pastes the result back. Clipboard restoration uses a Retype-owned transaction marker, so a newer clipboard item from you or another app is never overwritten.

No text is sent anywhere — everything happens locally.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/bobjer/retype
cd retype
./build.sh
open build/Retype.app

Requires Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install).

Run unit tests with full Xcode available:

./test.sh

Run the optional installed-layout smoke test with:

./smoke-system-layouts.sh

Packaging

./package.sh builds an ad-hoc-signed local zip in build/. It needs no Apple Developer account, certificate, notarization profile, or external service. Run the app directly from build/Retype.app.

Troubleshooting

Hotkey does nothing after granting Accessibility permission

macOS ties accessibility permissions to the app's code signature. After rebuilding or reinstalling, the old entry can go stale. Reset it:

tccutil reset Accessibility com.retype.app

Then relaunch Retype and grant permission again when prompted.

License

Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal