Troubleshooting

macOS says the app is "damaged"

macOS quarantines apps downloaded from the internet that aren't from the App Store. To fix:

Open Terminal and run:

xattr -cr /Applications/LangSwitcher.app

Then open the app again. This only needs to be done once.

Alternatively, right-click the app → Open to bypass Gatekeeper.

Accessibility permission not working

LangSwitcher requires Accessibility permission to read and replace text.

1. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
2. Make sure LangSwitcher is in the list and toggled on
3. If it was already on, try toggling it off and back on
4. Restart LangSwitcher

Conversion result is incorrect

This can happen with text containing characters from multiple layouts. Try:

1. Manually select the specific text, then press the hotkey
2. Switch Smart Conversion mode in Settings → General (try "Last Word" or "Disabled")
3. Check that the correct keyboard layouts are enabled in System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources

If the issue persists, report it on GitHub with:

• The original text
• The expected result
• The actual result
• Your keyboard layouts
• Conversion log entries (export from Settings → Log → Export JSON)

Hotkey doesn't work in a specific app

Some apps (especially those running with elevated privileges or in sandboxed environments) may not respond to Accessibility-based text reading. Known cases:

• Terminal/iTerm when focused on the command line
• Some Electron apps with custom text fields

Try manually selecting the text first, then pressing the hotkey.

App doesn't appear in menu bar

1. Check that LangSwitcher is running (look in Activity Monitor)
2. If the icon is hidden, it might be behind the notch on MacBook Pro — try expanding the menu bar area
3. Quit and relaunch the app

High CPU usage

LangSwitcher should use negligible CPU. If you notice high usage:

1. Check the Conversion Log — excessive logging with large databases can slow things down
2. Try clearing the log or setting a log limit in Settings → Log
3. Report the issue with Activity Monitor details