InkFlow墨流

Pinyin input, made for the Mac

Let Chinese flow.

From an idea at your fingertips to words on the screen.
A local-first pinyin input method for macOS,
so every sentence is easier to type.

Download for macOSView source

Apple Silicon · macOS 26 or later

A sentence starts here
Notes

No switching needed

周末，带上 Mac 去咖啡馆，
写一点ling'gan

1 灵感2 灵干3 灵甘
InkFlow PinyinSpace picks the first candidate
Pinyin runs on your MacChinese and English, mixedLooks the way you likeOpen source, still improving

Ease is in the details

Type it the way you say it.

Familiar pinyin and the habits you already have. Keep your attention on what you’re writing.

01 / Pinyin

English fits in your Chinese.

Full pinyin, abbreviated pinyin and mixed Chinese and English keep a sentence connected. Fuzzy pinyin and auto-correction follow your settings.

今天的 idea，现在就记下。
02 / Phrases

Stop retyping the same words.

Give the phrases you use often their own input codes. Names, addresses and stock replies go into your own dictionary.

你的短语，你的输入习惯。
03 / Appearance

Make it look your way.

Show candidates in a row or a column, in larger or smaller text, and choose how many appear.

字里行间，自有风格。
Emoji candidates ☺Simplified and Traditional 简 / 繁Custom phrases ＋Candidate bar style AaCelebration effect ✳

Local first, your choice

Your words,
handled with care.

Data and privacy
01

Everyday typing works offline

Pinyin input runs on your Mac. Your user dictionary, custom phrases and quality records stay on it.

02

Local records, plainly explained

Quality records don’t keep the text you type unless you turn that on. What is recorded, and what goes online, is on the privacy page.

Ready when you are

Three steps to start.

  1. 1

    Download InkFlow

    Download the latest installer (.pkg) from GitHub.

  2. 2

    Install and add it

    Open the installer; it needs no administrator password. Then add InkFlow Pinyin in System Settings › Keyboard › Text Input › Edit.

  3. 3

    Start typing

    Choose InkFlow Pinyin from the Input menu in the menu bar and write your first sentence.

Download for macOS

Apple Silicon · macOS 26 or later

Questions

Does pinyin input need the internet?

Everyday pinyin input works offline. Dictionary updates and update checks go to GitHub. Everything that goes online is listed in Data and privacy.

Is the app in English?

InkFlow’s settings are in Chinese for now. The input method appears as InkFlow Pinyin in English versions of macOS.

Which Macs does it support?

An Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 26 or later.

Where can I report a problem or see what’s new?

Report problems in GitHub Issues, and see what changed in each version in the release notes.