Private dictation for MacSayWrite
Say it messy. We'll write it neat.
SayWrite is a private dictation app for Mac: hold Fn, talk, and clean text appears wherever you type — all on your Mac.
Free during early access · macOS 15+ · Apple silicon
You say: “so um me and him were thinking we move the standup to thursday cause friday's slammed”
SayWrite types: He and I think we should move the standup to Thursday, since Friday's packed.
Illustrative examples.
How it works
Three steps. No typing.
- 01
Hold Fn and talk
Click into any text field and hold fn. A small pill shows you're live. Or tap once to start and again to stop.
- 02
Let go. It's typed.
Your words appear where your cursor is, in about 0.2 seconds on an M5 Pro. SayWrite never presses Return for you.
- 03
Want it neater? Tap Space.
Tap space while holding fn and AI Polish turns your ramble into clean writing, using AI that runs on your Mac.
Key facts
SayWrite at a glance
The short version, for people and for search engines.
- SayWrite is a dictation app for Macs with Apple silicon (M1 or later) running macOS 15 or later.
- Speech recognition runs entirely on the Mac, using NVIDIA's Parakeet TDT 0.6B v2 model on the Apple Neural Engine.
- After a one-time speech model download of about 465 MB, dictation works fully offline.
- You hold the Fn (Globe) key to dictate, or tap it to start and stop; the text is typed wherever your cursor is, and Return is never pressed for you.
- Holding Fn and tapping Space turns on AI Polish, which rewrites what you said using Apple Intelligence's on-device model or your own Ollama or LM Studio server on 127.0.0.1.
- SayWrite has no accounts, no telemetry and no cloud processing; audio is never stored or uploaded.
- On an M5 Pro, a short dictation becomes text in about 0.2 seconds, and a 26-second clip transcribes in well under a second.
- SayWrite currently transcribes English.
- SayWrite is free during early access.
Features
Dictation that cleans up after you
Everything runs on your Mac. Nothing to sign up for.
Dictate into any app with the Fn key
Hold Fn, talk, let go. Text lands wherever your cursor is.
On-device speech recognition
NVIDIA Parakeet on the Neural Engine. Works offline after one download.
AI Polish with Fn + Space
Tap Space while holding Fn and your ramble comes out as clean writing.
Rewrite · do what I say
Say "write a quick reply saying Thursday works" and get the reply.
Personal dictionary with suggestions
Teach it names and jargon. It suggests words from your own edits.
Filler-word removal
Drops um, uh and er. Counts your habits on the Stats page.
Edit Last Dictation, replace in place
Fix your last dictation in an editor and swap it back where it was.
Stats: speaking vs typing speed
See your own speaking and typing words per minute, plus streaks.
Transcribe audio and video files
Drop in a recording, get timestamped text. Export .txt, .md or .srt.
Privacy
What you say stays on your Mac.
- Speech recognition runs on your Mac. NVIDIA Parakeet TDT 0.6B v2 runs on the Apple Neural Engine. Your audio is never uploaded.
- Audio is never kept. Recordings live in a temporary file only while they're transcribed, then they're deleted, including when you cancel.
- AI stays local too. Polish uses Apple Intelligence's on-device model or your own Ollama or LM Studio on 127.0.0.1. Any other address is refused.
- No accounts, no telemetry, no cloud. History and Stats are saved on your Mac only, and password managers are never recorded.
The only times SayWrite goes online
- Once, when you ask: downloading the speech model (about 465 MB) from Hugging Face.
- Once a day, if you allow it: checking GitHub for a new version.
- Only if you turn it on: talking to your own AI server at 127.0.0.1, which is your Mac.
None of these include anything you say or write. Read the privacy policy
Speed
Fast enough to keep up with you
Local doesn't mean slow. Apple's Neural Engine is built for exactly this kind of work.
Measured by the developer on a Mac with an M5 Pro chip. Your numbers will vary by Mac.
FAQ
Questions, answered
What is SayWrite?
SayWrite is a private dictation app for Mac. You hold the Fn (Globe) key, talk, and clean text is typed wherever your cursor is. Speech recognition runs on your Mac, so what you say is never uploaded.
Does SayWrite work offline?
Yes. After a one-time download of the speech model (about 465 MB), dictation works with no internet connection. AI Polish also runs locally, using Apple Intelligence's on-device model or your own Ollama or LM Studio server on your Mac.
How much does SayWrite cost?
SayWrite is free during early access. There is no account to create and no credit card to enter.
Which Macs does SayWrite run on?
SayWrite needs a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) running macOS 15 Sequoia or later, plus about 470 MB of free space for the speech model. Intel Macs are not supported.
Is SayWrite private? Does my voice leave my Mac?
Your voice never leaves your Mac. Audio is transcribed on the Apple Neural Engine, kept only in a temporary file while it is processed, and deleted right after. SayWrite has no accounts, no analytics and no telemetry, and it never sends your words to a cloud service.
How do I start dictating?
Click into any text field, hold the Fn (Globe) key, speak, and let go. SayWrite types the text where your cursor is and never presses Return for you. You can also tap Fn once to start and again to stop, or use Control-Option-D.
What is AI Polish?
AI Polish rewrites what you just said into what you would have written with time: the point first, rambling cut, your facts and voice kept. Hold Fn and tap Space while you talk to turn it on for that dictation. It runs on your Mac using Apple Intelligence's on-device model or your own Ollama or LM Studio.
Can SayWrite remove filler words like um and uh?
Yes. Turn on filler-word removal and SayWrite drops um, uh, er, ah and hmm from your text. It also counts filler words, including "like" and "you know", on your Stats page so you can see your habits.
Say it messy. We'll write it neat.
Hold Fn, talk, and let SayWrite type it. Everything stays on your Mac.
Free during early access · macOS 15+ · Apple silicon