vbookshelf/Takkie-Translate-Offline-TDA

Takkie Translate v3.0

Offline text translation for macOS. Powered by Google TranslateGemma 12b Q4_K_M.
This is a Thumb-Drive App (TDA).

• Familiar "Google Translate" UI.
• Runs completely offline. Locked to localhost.
• Supports 55 languages and regional variants (e.g., pt-BR vs. pt-PT or zh-Hant vs. zh-Hans).
• No installation needed. Double-click to run.
• Fully self contained. All dependencies are bundled (8.5 GB) - including Ollama and the TranslateGemma 12b Q4_K_M model.
• Easy to share using a USB Drive or via AirDrop. All dependencies travel with the copy.

What problem does this solve?

Most AI translation tools require you to send your data to the cloud. For anyone working with sensitive information — witness statements, immigration paperwork, therapy session notes, whistleblower disclosures — this is a dealbreaker. You have two choices: Don't use AI assistance or accept the risk that your data may be exposed. Also, self-hosted AI translation solutions require a local setup that can be confusing for non-technical people.

Takkie Translate solves both problems.

It's a fully offline, zero-install AI translation tool that runs entirely on your local machine. Your data never leaves your device. Just double-click to launch. All dependencies, including Ollama and the TranslateGemma 12b model, are bundled into a single portable folder that can be carried on a USB drive or shared via AirDrop. Text is processed ephemerally and the app is locked to localhost. The result is a private AI translation tool that anyone can use on sensitive data, with no setup friction.

Also, languages are not uniform. Portuguese spoken in Brazil reads differently from Portuguese in Portugal. Simplified Chinese is not the same as Traditional Chinese. Spanish varies across Latin America and Spain. TranslateGemma supports regional language variants.

What is a Thumb-Drive App (TDA)?

• A portable folder-based AI app.
• Runs completely offline.
• No installation required.
• All dependencies are bundled - including Ollama and the model.
• Created to be run on a Silicon Mac.
• Easy to share using AirDrop or a thumb-drive.
• All dependencies travel with the copy.
• Can be run on an external SSD.
• Double-click to launch.

Designed to bring the power of AI to places where there's no internet.

How to Use

System Requirements:

• Operating System: MacOS
• Computer: Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, M3, M4)
• RAM: 16GB
• Free disk Space: 8.5 GB

1. Download the Takkie-Translate-v3.0-TDA.zip file and unzip
2. Place the unzipped folder on your desktop. Then open the terminal and cd into the Takkie-Translate-v3.0-TDA folder:

   cd Desktop/Takkie-Translate-v3.0-TDA
   

3. MacOS often quarantines downloaded files. To make the launch script executable, paste this command into the terminal and press Enter:

cat start-mac-app.command > temp && mv temp start-mac-app.command && chmod +x start-mac-app.command

4. Open the Takkie-Translate-v2.0-TDA folder and double-click this file: start-mac-app.command
   If a MacOS security popup appears, click: "Allow"

5. The app will open. This may take a few seconds. Please be patient if you don't see anything happening. During normal use the app will open much faster. Because the model needs to load, it may take a few seconds to get a response to your first message. Subsequent responses will be much faster.

One Command. Complete Control.

You would have noticed that, to make this app executable, this command needed to be typed in the terminal:

cat start-mac-app.command > temp && mv temp start-mac-app.command && chmod +x start-mac-app.command

To remove this requirement the start-mac-app.command file would need to be code signed. Most macOS apps distributed outside the App Store are code signed using an Apple Developer ID certificate. Code signing requires an active Apple Developer Program membership.

This project does not use code signing because it introduces a point of failure. If the Apple membership lapses, or if Apple revokes the certificate for any reason, signed apps will stop launching cleanly for new users. This risk is unacceptable.

In exchange for the minor inconvenience of typing one command into the terminal, you get a reliable app that has no dependency on any third party. You have complete control.

References

• GitHub
  https://github.com/vbookshelf/Takkie-Translate-Offline

• Thumb-Drive App Concept
  https://github.com/vbookshelf/Thumb-Drive-App-Concept

• Single-File Architecture: One file to rule them all
  https://github.com/vbookshelf/Single-File-Flask-Web-App

Revision History

Version 3.0
18-March-2026
Prototype. Released for testing.

• Bundled the Python 3.12 interpreter.
• Bundled the wheels for all packages.
• Added a venv token system that deletes a venv that may have been shipped with the app.
• Modified the code so that the app can only use the bundled uv.

Version 2.0
15-March-2026
Prototype. Released for testing.

• Fixed a bug. When multiple apps were open, closing one app resulted in the code trying to close all open apps. Now multiple TDAs can be used at the same time.
• Previously, if the app detected that the model was missing during startup, it would auto download the model. Now auto download is disabled. It can be enabled by setting ALLOW_MODEL_DOWNLOAD=1 in the start-mac-app.command file.

Version 1.0
5-March-2026
Prototype. Released for testing.