Keitame ー Japanese Translator

About the project

I live in Tokyo and I am still not fluent in Japanese, so I rely on translators often. The problem is that most translators ignore tone and context, which can turn a polite moment into something that sounds too casual, or make a friendly chat feel stiff. I wanted a translator that lets me choose the tone for the translated text. That idea became Keitame.

How the idea became an app

This was my first personal app. I designed the flows, screens, and microcopy, and my developer friend Christian Skorobogatow built the foundation with me. We focused on making tone selection feel natural, so I tried several patterns until the tone picker felt obvious and quick. We also split History from Saved, so everything you translate is logged, while favorites live in a dedicated place you can reach in one tap.

UX challenges I had to solve

A big challenge was separating tones so each works in its own context. Casual should feel right with friends, polite should signal respect, and the other tones should map cleanly to moments like business or slang. That meant naming, ordering, and explaining tones with clear labels and helpful defaults, plus small details like icons, audio cues, and romaji that support confidence without clutter.

Another challenge was action density after a translation. People want to hear the line, copy it, save it, or expand it. I iterated on placement and spacing to keep those actions visible without stealing focus from the text itself.

What I learned

I learned how to ship through App Store Connect, including localization, screenshots, and the small fields that matter for conversion, like promotional text and keywords. I also studied paywall best practices and tuned the timing and messaging so value is clear, pricing is transparent, and people can try the core experience without friction.

Why Keitame

Keitame exists to solve the real pain of tone in Japanese. Choose the tone that fits the moment, get a translation that matches it, and avoid awkwardness while you learn and communicate.