Local Dictate app icon

Local Dictate

Hold a key. Say it. It’s typed. Nothing leaves your Mac.

Local Dictate is dictation the way it should work: hold the Fn key, talk, and your words appear at your cursor in any app — email, documents, chat, code. The AI that does it runs entirely on your Mac. No cloud, no account, no subscription.

Download the Beta
Free during beta · v0.2.2 · Notarized by Apple · Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 14 or later

Dictation that keeps up with you.

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Works in every app

Hold Fn and talk — the text lands wherever your cursor is. Double-tap to lock the mic on for longer stretches.

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100% private

Your voice is transcribed on your Mac and never leaves it. No cloud, no accounts, no audio stored. Works with the internet off.

Genuinely fast

A full-size Whisper AI model runs locally on Apple Silicon. Your words appear about half a second after you stop talking.

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Smart paragraphs

Change the subject and Local Dictate starts a new paragraph — using Apple’s on-device intelligence, so even that stays private.

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Learns your words

Family names, client names, industry jargon — add them to your personal dictionary once and they come out spelled right.

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Never loses a take

Every transcription is kept in a local history file, and “Paste Last Transcript” recovers anything that landed in the wrong window.

Why local?

Most dictation tools stream your voice to their servers, transcribe it there, and charge you monthly for the round trip. Everything you say — client details, family matters, half-formed ideas — passes through someone else’s computer.

Local Dictate runs the same class of AI model on the Mac you already own. Apple Silicon is more than fast enough; the cloud was never a requirement, just a business model. Your voice stays in the room, it works on a plane, and nobody meters your words. Buy it once, dictate forever.

System requirements

MacApple Silicon (M1 or newer)
macOS14 (Sonoma) or later · Smart Paragraphs needs macOS 26 (Tahoe)
Disk spaceAbout 1.7 GB: a 2 MB app plus a one-time 1.6 GB speech model download
MemoryRuns comfortably on 8 GB Macs · uses about 2 GB while running
InternetOnly once, to fetch the speech model · fully offline after that
PermissionsMicrophone · Accessibility

Support

Questions, bug reports, or beta feedback — email info@greaterthanconsulting.com and you’ll hear back within one business day.

Local Dictate is built by Greater Than Consulting in Vero Beach, Florida.