- v2026.1008.1851 — Linux version starts from Steam again - 8 October 2026
This update fixes the two Linux problems from our last post. You no longer need the workarounds. Playto on Linux starts from Steam again Fixed "Required system libraries are missing" (PLT-LINUX-002) when starting from Steam. If you forced "Legacy runtime 1.0" under Properties → Compatibility, you can untick it now. Playto works either way. The window no longer freezes on X11 or GNOME Fixed the Playto window not updating or reacting to clicks right after it starts. You can remove the launch option WEBKIT_DISABLE_DMABUF_RENDERER=1 %command% if you added it. Keeping it does no harm. Other improvements Linux: "Near text" places translations correctly at 125%, 150% and 200% display scaling on KDE. Linux: the videos in the setup screens now play. "Near text" no longer draws two lines of one dialogue at different font sizes. When Windows Smart App Control stops the translation engine, the mess…
- [Resolved] Linux version — two known issues and how to avoid them - 8 October 2026
We've found two problems in the Linux version. Fixed builds are being prepared, and we'll post again when they're out. If you'd rather not wait, the workarounds below get Playto running now. The Windows version is not affected. Playto doesn't start: "Required system libraries are missing" (PLT-LINUX-002) Steam now starts Linux games inside a container, and from inside it Playto can't see the libraries installed on your PC. To avoid it, right-click Playto in Steam → Properties → Compatibility, tick "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool", choose "Legacy runtime 1.0", then start Playto. On X11 or GNOME, Playto's window stops updating On X11 desktops, and on GNOME (including Ubuntu's default desktop), Playto's window can stop updating right after it starts, so you can't use it. KDE Plasma on Wayland is not affected. To avoid it, right-click Playto in Steam → Properties…
- v2026.1008.901 — Playto on Linux (beta) - 8 October 2026
Playto now runs on Linux. It is a beta: we have tested it on a limited set of PCs, so your reports help a lot. Install it from your Steam library on Linux On Linux, Steam installs the Linux version of Playto like any other game. The Linux version is for the Standard edition only. Playto Lite has no Linux version. What you need Ubuntu 24.04 or an equivalent distribution, or later (glibc 2.39 or newer), 64-bit. We have tested it on KDE Plasma (Wayland and X11) and GNOME. Steam Deck is not supported. In Game Mode, neither capture nor the overlay works. What works on Linux "Fixed Region", with the overlay shown "Near text" or at the "Bottom". The "Tutorial". "Read aloud" in English, Japanese, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. Not available on Linux yet "Read aloud" in Chinese, and the VOICEVOX Japanese voice pack. "Cursor Follow", "Resident mode" and "Game audio". On GNOME, "Near tex…
- v2026.1007.1853 — Tutorial translates again, sharper PP-OCR reading - 7 October 2026
This update fixes the tutorial and improves reading with PP-OCR (bundled). The tutorial translates again on Windows Fixed the first-run Tutorial not translating the practice game's dialogue. This had been broken since the previous two updates. Each tutorial step now names the button to press, such as Add Region, Start, Stop and Done. Better reading with PP-OCR (bundled) PP-OCR (bundled) is used when OneOCR is not available on your PC. Near text now uses the size of the text on screen, so the translation is no longer oversized and lines no longer differ in size. Large captures, such as a whole window, are read more accurately. Reading a large capture takes slightly longer; smaller regions are unchanged. Other improvements Error Report no longer includes your user folder name in the paths it sends. If something still feels off, tell us through Contact us in the app, Discord, or this Steam…
- v2026.1006.2209 — Fullscreen games: draw regions in Playto - 6 October 2026
This update finishes what we started last time for games that only run in fullscreen. Redraw regions on fullscreen games without minimizing them During a session, the bar's area action, Fixed on the learning bar, and the other "adjust the region" actions now open the Region settings with the game's preview, and you draw there. The game is not minimized. Windowed games work as before: you draw on the game screen. The preview shows the game's current screen With Start capture open, switch to the game for a moment and back. The preview updates to the game's latest screen. While the preview is an earlier screen, it says how old it is and "Bring the game to the front to update to its latest screen". A "Refresh the preview" button sits next to Add Region. Clearer region selection When you select a region, the game window stays bright and is labeled "Game", so you can see where to draw. When P…
- v2026.1005.1337— Fullscreen games, setting the area on the preview, Stop fix - 5 October 2026
Several of you asked about games that only run in fullscreen. Borderless (windowed fullscreen) is still the smoothest choice when a game offers it, but this update makes fullscreen work too. Fullscreen games When the game minimizes as you switch to Playto, the preview in "Start capture" keeps the game's last picture. Drag on it to set the area, then start with "Fixed Region". If the game hasn't been shown yet, Playto asks you to show it once first. Closing or minimizing the game no longer translates the window behind it. Closing the game stops capture after a few seconds. Fullscreen games: what to know Selecting an area on the game screen for "Fixed Region" minimizes almost every fullscreen game. This is how Windows handles fullscreen, and there is no way around it yet. For now, set the area on the preview in "Start capture" instead. In the next update, setting the area from the bar wil…
- v2026.1004.1050 — GPU fix for integrated graphics, more languages - 4 October 2026
This update fixes the translation engine on some integrated graphics and finishes the app's translations in more languages. Integrated graphics now translate on the GPU On some laptops with integrated graphics, the translation engine crashed every time Playto started and then fell back to the CPU. Playto now switches the engine to a setting that works on that chip and keeps translating on the GPU, so start-up no longer waits through those crashes. You will see a one-time notice when this happens. Playto remembers it for later starts. Playto says when Windows blocks the engine When Windows Smart App Control stops the translation engine from loading, Playto now says so and explains where to check, instead of reporting an unknown cause. More of Playto in your language Danish, Dutch, Swedish, Romanian, Greek, Czech, Turkish, Norwegian, Hungarian, Finnish and Traditional Chinese are now full…
- Linux and Mac versions in development — Linux first - 4 October 2026
Playto is coming to Linux and Mac. We're building Linux first, then Mac. How the release works Each version is released once its core features work: capturing the game screen, reading the text, translating it and showing it on the overlay. More features are added in updates after that. Some features may not be possible on every system, because of how the OS or desktop handles windows and input. We'll support as much as we can, and the app will show what isn't available. Linux Linux comes first and is being tested now on KDE Plasma and GNOME. Which features work on which desktop is listed on our Linux page → Steam Deck's Game Mode is not part of the first release. Mac Mac comes next, after the Linux release. If you already own Playto The Linux and Mac versions come with your Steam purchase at no extra cost. Syncing your saved words and progress between computers is something we'll look i…
- v2026.1003.41 — game check with several program names, Add Region - 2 October 2026
A small update with fixes from the past few days. Fixes We fixed "Start capture" saying a game is not running when its pack lists more than one program name (for example a launcher and the game). We fixed the "Add Region" button showing two plus signs. Other improvements "Try Playto Cloud" in the header now appears after your first translation instead of on the very first screen. The "Tell us what you think of Playto" window is wider and its choices are easier to read. If something still feels off, tell us through Contact us in the app, Discord, or this Steam thread. If Playto is part of your gaming, a short review helps other language learners find it — and we read every one.
- v2026.1001.2256 — Simpler Home and Start screen, calmer Log - 1 October 2026
We are continuing to make Playto easier to use. This update cuts down what you see on Home, the "Start capture" screen and the Log, so you can get to your first translation sooner. Home shows just your session and your reviews Home now has two cards: "Start session" and your reviews. "Quick translate" and "Spot translate" are in the ▾ menu next to "Start session", each with a one-line description. "Text reader" and "Language (read → translate)" moved to Settings › "Method". The review card shows each deck's name and count. What the three boxes mean is behind the ? button. "Guide" is now a tab in the left rail, above "Settings". "Start" on the "Start capture" screen is always pressable If something is missing, pressing "Start" points to the first missing step and highlights it. A "Game › Area to read › Start" line at the top shows how far you are. The small thumbnail on each region row i…
- v2026.930.2230 — Two methods, Image fallback, accuracy tips in the app - 30 September 2026
We cut the number of choices to two translation methods, and the app now shows how to get more accurate translations. Two methods: Text Reading and Image The methods are now Text Reading and Image. Translation with Text Reading works exactly as before. Text+ is now an option of Text Reading, called Image fallback. Paid version: Image fallback reads missed text from the image Wherever text recognition reads nothing, the image model reads that area again, automatically. Turn on Image fallback in Settings → Method. It is off by default. It works with a model that reads images (Qwen3-VL / Gemma 4) and uses more GPU memory when on. Image fallback is an option of Text Reading, so it is greyed out while the method is Image. If you used Text+, your method is now Text Reading. Turn on Image fallback to keep the same behaviour. Tips for more accurate translations, in the app As we mentioned in to…
- Better translations: Hy-MT2 7B and Playto Cloud - 30 September 2026
When a translation doesn't read right, the model is often the reason. The included Hy-MT2 1.8B is small so it runs next to your game. Here are three ways to trade some speed or credits for better results. Switch to Hy-MT2 7B on a PC with a strong GPU The larger version of the included model gets names, game terms and numbers right more often. It also uses the lines just before, so "you" and missing subjects come out right more often. Open Settings → "Method" → "Change" and pick "Hy-MT2 7B". It's a 4.6 GB download. It needs about 8 GB of VRAM and answered about three times slower than 1.8B in our tests. Try it with your game running. Available in every edition. Examples from our internal tests. Results vary by game and sentence. English → Chinese, after "The five of you were chosen by the council.": "You are our last hope." 1.8B: 你是我们的最后希望。(one person) — 7B: 你们是我们最后的希望。(all of you) Engli…
- v2026.930.119 — Review on your phone, regrouped Settings and App settings - 29 September 2026
You can now review your saved words on your phone. We also regrouped Settings, based on your feedback. Review on your phoneOpen Integration → "Review on your phone", press Start and scan the QR code with your phone. Reviews run in the phone's browser; there is no app to install. The home screen shows today's numbers and recommends the words you are about to forget. "Choose cards" lets you pick the game, tag, language and number of cards. The back of each card shows the part of speech, meanings, the line from your game and examples, each on its own. The phone can read the word and examples aloud, and plays a short sound on Got it and Again. Reviews on the phone count toward your reviews on the PC. Use it on a phone connected to the same Wi-Fi as your PC, at home or another network you trust. The free version reviews up to 10 cards per session. Settings are regroupedThank you to everyone…
- v2026.929.58— Overlay position per region, compare re-translations - 28 September 2026
You can now pick the overlay position for each capture region, and compare a re-translation before it replaces the current one. Settings open from the side menu and are organized into tabs. Overlay position per region In the Start Capture screen, pick a region and choose Near text, Bottom or Custom under "Translation display". The preview shows where the overlay will appear, so you can check it before you start. Fixed: a Custom position you drew moved every time you started. With two or more regions set to Bottom, the translations share one band under the game window. Quick translate remembers its own overlay position, separate from your games. Compare before you overwrite Re-translating with Accuracy first or Cloud shows the current and the new translation side by side, and you choose whether to overwrite. Each Log line shows the model that translated it. Lines whose screenshot has exp…
- v2026.927.1928— Per-game overlay position, Auto source language, bundled reader - 27 September 2026
The main changes: the overlay position you choose is kept per game and no longer drops to the bottom, Playto can tell which language each line is in, PCs without OneOCR get a bundled text reader, re-translating a line lets you pick speed or accuracy, and the review card on Home is now three small quests for today. Auto: each line in its own languageWhat it does — Many games mix languages: an English menu with Japanese dialogue, a store page with reviews in several languages, a Korean game with English item names. With Auto on, Playto reads each line in the language it is written in and translates the lines that are not in your language. Lines already in your language are left alone instead of being translated into themselves. Where to turn it on — On Home, press the text reader name or the language pair next to it. The new Text reader & language window has the reader, the pair, and the…
- v2026.924.1434 — Translations on your stream as an OBS Browser Source - 24 September 2026
You asked for it on the last streaming post, and here it is: with Game Capture still as your source, Playto can now put the translations on your stream as an OBS Browser Source. The same update makes Spot translate start the engine on its own and tightens the tutorial's capture step. Translations on your stream, with Game Capture Setup — In Playto, open Integration, press Start under OBS / Streaming, then Copy URL. In OBS, add a Browser source, paste the URL, set its width and height to the game's resolution (Playto shows the numbers), and place it over your game source. The URL stays the same between launches, so you set it up once. Same look as on your screen — The Browser Source renders exactly what the desktop overlay renders: the same boxes, fonts, sizes and positions, in the same place over the game. Playto's own notices and the capture frame stay out of it. Playto Lite included —…
- v2026.924.302 — Playto closing right after launch or on model switch - 23 September 2026
This update fixes a crash that closed Playto about a second after launch on some PCs, and the same crash when switching the translation model. It also makes relaunching after closing to the tray behave as expected. If Playto or Playto Lite stopped opening for you this week, this is the fix. Fixed Playto closed right after launch — On some PCs, a window appeared for about a second and then disappeared, with Windows logging a stack-overflow error in playto.exe. Playto's main thread was started with too little reserved stack, and a recent update to the WebView2 (Edge) runtime left even less of it free. Playto now reserves eight times as much, so this no longer happens. Crash when switching the translation model — Changing from Hy-MT2 to the Gemma dictionary model could close Playto the same way. Same cause, same fix. Relaunch after closing to the tray — Closing the window with × keeps Play…
- v2026.923.2031 — Spot Translate reads part of the screen without pausing. - 23 September 2026
Spot TranslateOne key grabs a single frame of your game and opens it inside Playto's own window. The game keeps running. Nothing is drawn over it, and your mouse stays yours. On that still frame, drag around the part you want to read. Playto enlarges just that area, and from there you click a word, or drag across several. Only what you picked goes to translation, and the result saves where your other lines do. Playto remembers the area per game, so the second time the key takes you straight to it.Where it earns its placeFast-moving scenes — the frame is frozen, so you read at your pace instead of the game's. In-game chat that keeps scrolling — grab it before it goes, then pick through it afterwards. Long descriptions and item effects — take only the lines you need. A reworked layoutNavigation is down to three places: Home, Log and Learn. Home now leads with the session, so what you can…
- Streaming with Playto — which OBS source shows the translations - 20 September 2026
Showing the translations in OBS The full guide, including what you may do with the footage, is here: Streaming and video → Use a Display Capture source. The translation overlay is a separate always-on-top window, so it is part of your screen but not part of the game: Game Capture hooks the game itself and Window Capture takes a single window, and neither of them can include it. If the game runs in exclusive fullscreen, switch it to borderless windowed so the overlay composites on top. What stays out of the recording The green capture frame — it marks what Playto reads, and it would end up in the reading itself. Playto's own notices — the same reason. Everything else, including the translations and the bar over the game, is recordable. If you are on a build older than v2026.913, update first: before that the overlay could drop out of recordings for a whole session. Compositing over Game…
- v2026.919.506 — Voice model download fix, first launch in your language - 18 September 2026
Fixed Voice model download — Starting the download twice, or from two places at once, could leave the voice model impossible to install: every attempt failed its integrity check and deleted the file. One download runs at a time now, and a second press joins the one already running. Text flickering on a still screen — Labels that never changed could keep switching between spellings while nothing moved on screen. A reading that is still settling is held until it repeats. Rows merged into one block — In panels with several short labels stacked close together, the lines could be joined into a single block, so no translation lined up with its own row. They stay separate now. Translation floating in its box — When a column of text was shrunk to fit, the translation could sit centred in a box much taller than itself. It starts at the top of the box now. Changed First launch follows your system…
