Does anything I say leave my Mac?
Not by default. “Keep everything on this Mac” starts switched on, and it blocks every cloud request. If you add your own API key and choose a cloud engine, what you say goes straight from your Mac to that provider, under their terms, and the app shows you that it’s doing so. It never goes through us, because we don’t run a server.
Can I use my own API keys?
Yes, if you want a cloud model. Add a key from OpenAI, Groq, Gemini, Anthropic or DeepSeek, or point it at any OpenAI-compatible server, such as Ollama or OpenRouter. Speech and cleanup can each use a different one, and you can choose per app. Keys stay in your Mac’s Keychain, and the provider bills you directly.
Does it need the internet?
Only to download its models. Dictation needs about 1.6 GB, once. Command Mode and meeting notes use a larger model, about 2.5 GB more, if you want them. After that, turn off your Wi-Fi and it carries on working.
Which models does it use?
Open models, in a pipeline of our own. Express, Universal or Lite hear you, and Standard or Advanced clean up. Standard is our own model, trained for dictation. The others are published by NVIDIA, OpenAI and the Qwen team, and each one is credited with its licence in the app and on our Credits page. You can see each model’s size, and remove it, in Settings › Storage.
Which Macs does it run on?
Macs with Apple silicon (M1 or later) running macOS 14 or newer. Meeting notes need macOS 14.2 or newer. Intel Macs, Windows and phones aren’t supported today.
Which languages does it understand?
Dictation is built for English. Meeting notes handle English, and also English mixed with Hindi, which is written in Roman letters.
Which apps does it work in?
Anywhere your cursor can type: mail, chat, documents, code editors, terminals and browsers. If a field can’t take the text, your words stay on screen in a card, ready to copy, so you never lose them. Password fields are never read or typed into.
Why does it ask for Accessibility permission?
macOS requires it for an app to type into other apps and to notice your shortcut. The microphone permission is for hearing you. Your audio is never saved.
Is the free version really unlimited?
Yes. Free dictation has no word limit, no time limit and no account, because it runs on your own Mac and costs us nothing per word.
How does the Premium trial work?
You get 7 days of Premium with a card on file. It’s charged when the 7 days end, unless you cancel first. If you never upgrade, free dictation keeps working.
What does “beta” mean for meeting notes?
They work, and we’re still improving them with every release, so expect the odd rough edge. Keep your own notes for anything critical until you trust them.
Do meeting notes join my call as a bot?
No. They listen to your microphone and your Mac’s sound, so nobody joins the call. Summaries are drafts from a small model on your Mac, so check what matters against the transcript. Recording laws differ by place, so tell people you’re taking notes.