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Translation

Updated July 21, 2026

Translation lets you speak in the language you think in and paste clean text in another language — dictate in Spanish, paste in English; speak Bangla, send Hindi. Lipo transcribes your speech, cleans it up the way you meant it, then translates the cleaned meaning, so the output reads like you rather than like machine translation. Everything lives on the Translation tab.

The two languages

The tab shows two languages side by side:

• You speak — the language you dictate in. This comes from Dictation → Language; change it there if you usually speak something different.
• Lipo pastes — the output language when translation is on. Change it inside this card. Two of its options mean "no translation": Matches Dictation (the default) and Auto both paste whatever language you spoke. To translate, pick a real target language that's different from You speak.

Enable translation

The Enable translation section decides when translation happens. Pick one of three cards:

• Don't translate — the default. Translation stays off and your dictation hotkey pastes the language you spoke.
• Always translate — your normal dictation hotkey translates every dictation into the Lipo pastes language.
• Translate with this hotkey — your dictation hotkey keeps working as-is, and you press a separate translation hotkey only when you want the translated output. Set that hotkey in the field that appears — a single key like fn or Control, an F-key, or a combo, same as the dictation hotkey. It can't be the same key as your dictation hotkey.

With Always translate or the translation hotkey selected, Lipo pastes must be a different language from You speak. If they match, or Lipo pastes is still on Auto, the card shows an error until you pick a real target language.

Setting it up, start to finish

1. Set Lipo pastes to the language you want in the finished text.
2. Under Enable translation, pick Always translate or Translate with this hotkey (and set the hotkey).
3. Click into the app where you want the text, press the matching hotkey, speak, then stop. Lipo pastes the translated text there.

Your dictation mode still applies: Casual, Formal, and Vibe Coding shape how the translated text is cleaned and formatted, so a Formal Spanish dictation arrives as a professional English paragraph. Dictionary words survive translation too — names stay names in either language.

Plans and limits

Translation is included with both plans:

• Pro Starter includes 20,000 translated words each billing period.
• Pro Plus has no translation word ceiling.
• Regular dictation — same language, no translation — never counts against the limit on either plan.

Check Settings → Subscription & usage for how many translated words you've used this period. If you hit the Pro Starter limit, translation resumes next period, or upgrade to Pro Plus for unlimited translation.

Frequently asked questions

Which language pairs can Lipo translate between?

Any pair of Lipo's supported languages, in either direction — Spanish to English, English to Hindi, French to German, and so on. This is different from Whisper-based tools, whose built-in translation only produces English.

Should I use Always translate or the separate hotkey?

If nearly everything you write is in your target language, use Always translate. If you switch between languages during the day — English email, family chat in your own language — the separate hotkey is better: one key pastes what you spoke, the other pastes the translation.

Why is my translated text in the wrong language?

Check which hotkey you pressed and what Lipo pastes is set to. The dictation hotkey pastes the You speak language unless Always translate is on; the translation hotkey always pastes the Lipo pastes language.