Features · Between calls
Hold a key and talk. It types.
The same on-device recognition that transcribes your meetings works as a keyboard in Mail, Slack, a terminal or anywhere else you can type. Nothing is saved, nothing is sent.
Hi Marcus, thanks for today. I will send the questionnaire tonight and confirm the sign-off path by Friday.
Press and hold the button, or the key. Release to insert. Escape cancels and nothing is typed.
Dictation without a cloud.
Most dictation sends your voice to a server and waits. This one runs Whisper on your Mac, the same model that transcribes your calls, so it works on a plane and nothing about what you said leaves the machine.
It is deliberately plain. Hold a key, speak, let go, and the text lands where your cursor was. There is no separate window, no correction interface, no account. It is a keyboard you talk to.
Audio in memory only. Release to insert.
Dictation
Where it gets used
The follow-up email
The call just ended and the notes are written. Dictate the two lines that turn them into an email, in Mail, without typing.
Slack and Teams
Reply in the thread you are already looking at. The text is inserted where the cursor is.
The terminal and the editor
A commit message, a comment, a paragraph of a document. Anywhere with a text field.
When your hands are busy
Tap once for hands-free, tap again to insert. Escape cancels and nothing is typed.
How it handles the awkward cases
Dictated audio is processed in memory and discarded; it is never written to disk. Your clipboard is put back the way it was after the text is inserted. If you switch apps mid-sentence, the text is held instead of pasted into the wrong window, and you can insert it later from the menu bar.
The direct download types straight into the app you are using once you grant Accessibility. The App Store version cannot request that permission, so it copies the text to the clipboard and asks you to press Command-V. Same recognition, one extra keystroke.
Where it gets used
Anywhere with a text field, whether or not a call is running.
Compared
Dictation here vs a cloud dictation app
| Cloud dictation | NoteHand | |
|---|---|---|
| Types into any app | Sometimes | ✓ |
| Audio stays on the Mac | ✕ | ✓ |
| Works offline | ✕ | ✓ |
| Audio never written to disk | Unknown | ✓ |
| Clipboard restored afterwards | Sometimes | ✓ |
| Included with your meeting notes | ✕ | ✓ |
| Separate subscription | ✓ | ✕ |
Dictation
Why it is trustworthy
Never touches the disk
Audio is processed in memory and discarded. There is no recording of your dictation anywhere, on the Mac or off it.
Focus moved? It waits
If you switch apps mid-sentence, the text is held instead of pasted into the wrong window. Insert it later from the menu bar.
Same model as your meetings
Whisper, on the device, in the size you chose in Settings. Better accuracy for your calls is better accuracy here.
Questions
The ones we get asked about Dictation.
Does it work in every app?
Anywhere with a text field. The direct download types into the app you are using once you grant Accessibility. The App Store version copies to the clipboard and asks you to press Command-V.
Is the audio saved?
No. Dictated audio is processed in memory and discarded. It is never written to disk and never sent anywhere.
Which key?
Option-Space by default. Hold to dictate and release to insert, or tap once for hands-free and tap again to insert. Change the shortcut in Settings.
Does a call need to be running?
No. Dictation is independent of recording and works whenever the app is in the menu bar.
Other features