Live captions in 99 languages and dialects
Words appear as they are spoken, in a large, high-contrast band that stays readable from the back of the room.
Live captions for macOS
Every talk, readable from the back row.
Farol puts your camera, capture card or slides on the projector with a clear live caption band, in the language being spoken or translated into another. Built for meetups, user groups and conferences, and run from one Mac.
Coming to the Mac App Store · macOS 15 or later · 15 free minutes to try
What the room sees: your source, your sponsors and the words being said, as they are said.
Why captions
Rooms aren't built for listening.
Echoing halls, quiet speakers, strong accents, a second language, a hearing loss. At most events, part of the audience is guessing. Captions on the main screen fix that for everyone at once, with no app for attendees to install.
Not everyone hears the talk
People who are deaf or hard of hearing can follow along on the same screen as everyone else, without asking for special treatment.
Not everyone speaks the language
International teams, students and visitors read the talk in their own language, or read along to catch what they missed.
Human captioning is out of reach
A professional captioner makes sense for a keynote. For a monthly meetup or a community day, Farol gets you most of the way for the price of a few minutes.
You are not captioning for a few people. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1.5 billion people live with some degree of hearing loss (WHO fact sheet).
How it works
From laptop to captioned projector in a minute.
No extra hardware, no attendee app, no account to set up.
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Pick what the room sees
Your Mac's camera, an HDMI capture card from the stage, or a screen or window you choose with the macOS picker.
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Choose who speaks and who reads
Select the microphone, the language the speaker uses and the language the audience reads. Check the level meter, then start.
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Put it on the projector
Send the audience window full screen to the projector. You keep the operator window on your laptop, out of sight.
Features
Made for the person running the room.
Farol is a native Mac app with one job: make the talk on the big screen easy to follow, and stay out of your way while it does.
Two windows: one for you, one for the room
The operator window holds every control: source, microphone, languages, banner and a live preview of exactly what the projector shows. The audience window shows only the talk and its captions. Nobody in the room sees a menu or a settings panel.
- Switch between camera and screen sharing without leaving the session
- Watch the microphone level before you go live
- Hide, show or clear the captions at any moment
Translation into 75 languages
Speaker in English, audience in Portuguese? Pick the reading language and the captions are translated live, right-to-left scripts included.
Camera, capture card or screen
Use the built-in camera, a USB or HDMI capture device from the venue's AV, or a single screen or window shared through macOS.
A sidebar for your sponsors
Add a banner on the left or right of the screen to thank sponsors and hosts, or share the Wi‑Fi and the hashtag. It's free.
Session history on your Mac
Each session's transcript, and its translation, is saved on your Mac to review after the event. Delete any session whenever you like.
Made for the Mac
A native app that behaves like one: full screen on a second display, the system camera and screen-sharing pickers you already know, and dark mode.
Who it's for
Anywhere one person talks and a room listens.
Farol works best where there's a projector, a microphone and someone looking after the room.
- Meetups and user groups
- Community days and conferences
- Workshops and training
- University lectures
- Company all-hands
- Places of worship
- Panels and town halls
Pricing
Pay for the minutes you caption. Nothing else.
No subscription and no seat licences. Buy a pack of minutes in the app when you need it, and use it at your next event or next year.
Try it at your next event
15 minutes free
- Claim them in the app, once per Mac
- Every feature included, translation too
- The app and the sponsor sidebar are free
How minutes are counted
| Session | Per minute |
|---|---|
| Captions in the spoken language | 1 minute |
| Captions plus a translation | 2 minutes |
Each translated language counts as one more minute. Minutes you buy never expire.
- 2 h120 min
- 4 h240 min
- 8 h480 min
- 20 h1,200 min
- 50 h3,000 min
Packs are in-app purchases through the Mac App Store, with prices shown in your currency.
Privacy
Your event stays your event.
Farol only sends what it needs to make captions, and only while captions are running. Read the privacy policy.
Video stays on your Mac
Camera, capture card and screen-sharing video are shown locally and never uploaded. Farol doesn't record them.
Audio only while captions run
Microphone audio is streamed for speech recognition only after you press Start, and stops the moment you press Stop.
No accounts, ads or tracking
There's nothing to sign up for. Farol doesn't sell data, show ads or build profiles of anyone.
Transcripts are yours
Saved sessions live on your Mac, not on a server. Delete them from the app at any time.
Questions
Before your next event
What do I need?
A Mac with macOS 15 or later, an internet connection, and a microphone that hears the speaker. The Mac's own microphone works for small rooms; a feed from the venue's sound desk works best.
Do attendees need to install anything?
No. Captions are shown on the projector or screen the room is already looking at.
How accurate are the captions?
With a clear microphone signal, live speech recognition is good enough for an audience to follow along. It is automatic, not a human captioner, so names and jargon can come out wrong. A good audio feed makes the biggest difference.
Can I try it before buying?
Yes. Claim 15 free minutes in the app, with every feature included.
More answers in the FAQ.
Light up your next talk.
Farol is in beta and coming to the Mac App Store. Organising a meetup or a conference? We'd love you to try it.