Short answers to the questions people ask before they install Bridgi. Still stuck? Support is here.
Bridgi is an iOS keyboard that translates your English into Hebrew as you type. You write your message in English in any app, tap Translate, and the keyboard replaces your text with the Hebrew translation, ready to send. You never leave the conversation to do it.
Hebrew verbs and adjectives change form depending on the speaker's gender. “I'm tired” is אני עייף for a man and אני עייפה for a woman — different words, both correct. Most translation tools guess and get it wrong roughly half the time. Bridgi asks you to set your own gender once during setup, and from then on your translations reflect how you'd actually say it.
Google Translate and similar tools are separate apps: you leave your chat, paste your text in, copy the result, and go back. They also don't know your gender, so first-person Hebrew comes out wrong about half the time. Bridgi lives inside your keyboard, so there's no switching apps and no copy-pasting. And because you set your own gender, the translation sounds like you.
No. Full Access is the iOS permission that lets a keyboard make network connections and send data outside the keyboard. Bridgi doesn't need to do either because the translation runs entirely on your device. You won't be asked to enable Full Access, and the keyboard works without it. You can confirm this in Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards › Bridgi.
Yes. The translation model runs inside the keyboard itself, on your phone. Nothing you type is sent to any server, and Bridgi makes no network connection from the keyboard. There are no analytics, no accounts, and no third-party tracking. The full detail is at bridgi.app/privacy.
Yes. The translation model ships inside the app and runs on your device. No download step, no first-launch setup, no internet connection needed. Bridgi works on a plane, in a tunnel, wherever your phone works.
Bridgi works in any app that accepts keyboard input on iOS: WhatsApp, iMessage, Instagram, Telegram, Gmail, Signal, Notes, and so on. You switch to Bridgi with the globe key, type your message in English, tap Translate, and send.
Version 1 translates English into Hebrew. That's the one direction it does well, with full gender-correct output. More language pairs are planned; if you're on the waitlist, you'll hear about them first.
No. Bridgi is a one-time purchase of $5.99. You pay once and keep it. No monthly fee, no in-app purchases, no renewal.
After you download the app, open it once and follow the in-app prompt, or go manually to Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards › Add New Keyboard and choose Bridgi. Then in any chat, tap the globe key to switch to Bridgi, type in English, and tap Translate. You do not need to enable Full Access.
Bridgi is in the final stages before App Store submission. Join the waitlist and you'll get an email the moment it's available for download.
Bridgi is for anyone who thinks in English and texts in Hebrew: people who moved to Israel, diaspora members staying in touch with family, partners of Israelis, Hebrew learners, travelers. If you've ever spent five minutes going back and forth between a translation app and your chat, Bridgi is for you.
Read: why your Hebrew messages come out the wrong gender →