Translation

Start translating

1. Open Settings and find Translation.
2. Windows · AndroidPress Download translation model. Translation is on from the start, so once the model is in, a translation appears under each paragraph in Reading Mode. It goes into the device’s language at first (on a device set to English, nothing is translated until you choose one under Translation language). The paper is never sent to a translation service.
3. Mac · iPadTurn translation on and choose your language; the translation appears under each paragraph in Reading Mode.
4. The first time, Rectoly offers to download the translation model (about 2.5 GB). You download it once; it is kept on the device and stays when the app updates.
5. WindowsAfter the download, Rectoly measures how fast this PC translates. With a Vulkan-capable graphics card a paragraph takes a second or two; with only the processor, Rectoly translates just the paragraphs on screen.
6. AndroidAfter the download, Rectoly measures how fast this device translates. A fast device also translates the rest of the open paper ahead of you; a slower one translates only the paragraphs on screen. A device that is too slow cannot translate on its own (a paired computer can do it instead).
7. Windows · AndroidTo put the translation lines away, press Translate in Reading Mode. Press it again to bring them back.

While you read

• The translation sits under the paragraph, so you can read the original and check yourself against it without leaving the page.
• Rectoly translates ahead of you in the open paper, so the next paragraphs are usually ready before you reach them.
• Windows · AndroidTranslate the rest of the open paper (in Settings) finishes the whole paper while you read.
• Mac · iPadYou can also switch the PDF page itself between the original and the translation — the layout, columns and figures stay where they were.
• WindowsYou can also put the translation on the PDF page itself. Under Translate in the PDF toolbar, choose Show Translated Text: the layout, columns and figures stay where they were, and Show Original Text switches back. Where two panes fit side by side, Translated pages side by side opens the translated page beside the original.
• AndroidYou can also put the translation on the PDF page itself. In the reader’s “…” menu, choose Show Translated Text: the layout, columns and figures stay where they were, and Show Original Text switches back. Where two panes fit side by side, Translated pages side by side opens the translated page beside the original.
• Windows · AndroidOn the PDF page, this version leaves paragraphs with math in the original rather than translating them (once per paper, Rectoly says Paragraphs with math are shown in the original).
• AndroidWhen the device runs warm or Low Power Mode is on, Rectoly holds back on the paragraphs ahead. If the device gets hot, translation pauses until it cools down (Continue anyway keeps it going).

What stays intact

Mathematics, numbers, citation markers like [12] and the terms picked for the paper are masked before translating and checked afterwards. A paragraph that fails those checks shows the original rather than a wrong guess, and a paper keeps the same term for the same thing from the first page to the last.

Saving translations to your library

• Mendeley editionTranslations are saved to your own Mendeley library as a file attached to the paper, so your other devices show the same translation without doing the work twice. This is on by default; turn it off with Save translations to my library.
• Zotero editionRectoly asks before saving translations to your own Zotero storage, and saves nothing without your consent.
• The files are named starting "Rectoly translation (do not delete)" and can be removed in Mendeley or Zotero at any time. Group libraries never get them.

Translate for your phone and tablet Windows

Your PC can translate on behalf of the iPad or Android device on the same network:

1. In Settings on the PC, open Phone & tablet and turn on Translate for my phone and tablet. You need the translation model downloaded and the speed measured first.
2. Windows may ask whether to let Rectoly use the network — choose Allow access. Only devices you have paired, on the same Wi‑Fi, can use it.
3. Press Start pairing and scan the QR code with Rectoly on the device (or press Show the code and type the six digits there).
   • On Linux, a firewall (ufw or firewalld) needs one TCP port and UDP 5353 (mDNS) allowed. Rectoly says what to allow when you turn the switch on.
4. From then on the device sends paragraphs to the PC, encrypted for that pair of machines; the PC translates and sends them back. Nothing leaves your network.

Let your PC translate Android

Rectoly on a Windows or Linux computer on the same network can translate for this device — without the translation model being downloaded here, and even on a device with less than 8 GB of memory or one the speed check found too slow.

1. On the computer, open Settings › Phone & tablet, turn on Translate for my phone and tablet and press Start pairing.
2. On this device, open Settings › Translation › Translate on my PC and use Scan the QR code on the computer’s QR code. On a device that cannot scan, pick the computer in the list below and type the six digits it shows.
3. From then on the device sends paragraphs to the computer, encrypted for that pair of machines, and the computer translates and sends them back. If the computer cannot answer, this device translates the paragraph itself — when it has the model.

Requests while you are away Windows

With Take requests on, the PC translates the paragraphs not yet translated in papers you read on your phone or tablet, and saves the translations to your library — only papers in My Library that are downloaded on this PC, and only while the PC is plugged in. Rectoly stays in the notification area when you close its window and checks Rectoly's server for a signal every 30 seconds; only signals pass through the server, never the paper or its translations.

Taking requests works on Linux too. A desktop with a notification area behaves like Windows; on one without it (plain GNOME, for example), closing the window stops Rectoly, so keep the window open — the app says so when it applies. On neither system does Rectoly start itself at login.

A second PC at home can turn on Wake my translating PC when a request comes to wake the translating PC from sleep. The sleeping PC's network adapter needs "Wake on Magic Packet" turned on, and in practice a cable connection to the router — Wi‑Fi rarely wakes it.

Ask your PC from anywhere Android

With Ask my PC from anywhere on (Settings › Translation), closing a paper asks your PC at home to translate the paragraphs not yet translated. The PC saves the translations to your library, and the next sync brings them to this device. Only signals pass through Rectoly’s server, never the paper or its translations.

• The PC has to be on and signed in, with Take requests turned on there. It works on papers in My Library that are downloaded on that PC.
• Check whether my PC can be reached tells you whether a request can go now. When it cannot, Rectoly says why and what you can do instead.
• A request is not lost when the PC is off: it waits beside the paper, and the PC picks it up the next time it runs.

When the device cannot find the PC Windows · Android

• The firewall question. If you dismissed the Windows firewall prompt without choosing Allow access, open Windows Security → Firewall & network protection → Allow an app through firewall, and allow Rectoly.
• Network type. Windows treats networks as Public or Private. Rectoly listens on the network you turned the switch on for; if the PC later joins a different network, Settings shows "This is not the network you turned this on for" with a Use this network button.
• Guest Wi‑Fi and university networks often block devices from talking to each other. Pairing then fails even though both machines are online; a home network or a private hotspot works.
• VPNs and virtual adapters (a VPN tunnel, WSL, a virtual machine) can swallow the connection. If the device cannot find the PC, try turning the VPN off, or pick the real Wi‑Fi adapter's network in Settings.
• Both editions on one PC: each edition pairs separately — pair with the one you read in.

What you need

• WindowsA 64-bit x86 processor with AVX2 and 8 GB of memory. A Vulkan-capable graphics card makes translation quick; without one, only the paragraphs on screen are translated, and on a very slow machine translation may be unavailable.
• AndroidTo translate on the device itself, roughly 8 GB of memory or more. Speed varies from device to device and is measured after the download. A device short of memory or too slow still reads translated papers through a paired computer.
• About 3 GB of free space for the model and its working files.