Lexo privacy policy and terms of use

Lexo translates with Apple's Translation framework, on your Mac, and detects the language of the text locally, with Apple's NaturalLanguage framework. It uses no online translation service and has no API key.

The first time you translate a language pair, or from the Models tab of its Preferences, macOS downloads the matching language model from Apple's servers. That download is made by macOS, not by Lexo, and falls under Apple's privacy policy.

Lexo only connects on its own to check for updates:

• once a day, and right at first launch, it reads a version file published on GitHub;
• GitHub then receives your IP address, plus the name and version of the app and of its update library (Sparkle), as with any download. Nothing else is sent: no text, no identifier, no macOS version;
• a new version is only installed after you click, unless you chose automatic installation. It is downloaded from GitHub, and its signature is checked before installation;
• you can turn this check off in Preferences, under About.

Lexo has no usage analytics, no crash reporting and no ads.

• The history of successful translations: original text, translation, languages and date, 500 at most, in the file ~/Library/Application Support/com.kevboileux.translate/history.json, which Lexo does not encrypt.
• History is on and kept with no time limit at first. In Preferences, you can choose 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days, delete one entry or everything, or turn it off, which erases it.
• Your settings: target language, interface language, shortcut, bubble position. No text is stored there.

Lexo writes no log unless a diagnostic mode is turned on, and that log never contains your text. If you delete the app, these files stay on your Mac: clear the history first if you wish.

When you press the shortcut, and only then, Lexo keeps the clipboard contents in memory, simulates ⌘C to copy your selection, reads it, then puts the previous contents back. It never watches the clipboard in the background.

The restored contents are flagged as transient, so clipboard managers such as Maccy or Paste don't record them twice. Your selection itself spends a few milliseconds on the clipboard. The bubble's Copy button puts the translation there, like any copy.

Lexo only asks for the Accessibility permission, which lets it simulate ⌘C. It does not read the contents of other apps and does not monitor your keyboard: the shortcut uses the standard macOS hotkey function. You can revoke the permission in System Settings, under Privacy & Security.

On first launch, the last page of the welcome guide offers to open Lexo at login (checked at first). You can change your mind at any time in its Preferences, under General. Versions before 1.2.9 turned it on without asking: that setting is kept when you update.

Lexo is free, for personal and professional use, on as many Macs as you like.

It is provided as is, within the limits allowed by law. Translations come from Apple's engine, and the publisher does not guarantee their accuracy. Proofread a translation before using it in an important document.

Only download Lexo from this page or from its official GitHub page (github.com/Titi257/lexo): a copy published elsewhere may have been modified.

Lexo uses two open-source libraries under the MIT license: Sparkle, for updates, and KeyboardShortcuts, for the keyboard shortcut. Their full licenses are in the app's About section.

Lexo is developed by Kévin Boileux and presented on this website, published by KB Digital Services LLC (see the legal notice).

Lexo has no account and no server: the publisher receives no data about your use. GitHub only shows it the total number of downloads of each version. Any question: contact@kevin-boileux.com.