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A small dictation app for Mac and Windows. Hold a key, say what you want to write, and let go: your words appear where your cursor is, cleaned up and laid out for the app you're in. It lives in your menu bar on a Mac, and by the clock on Windows, and stays out of the way.

The Mac's Dictation is free and types what you say. Featherweight Dictation finishes the text: ums removed, spoken corrections applied, numbers and symbols written out, and laid out for the app (an email as an email, a list as a list), on any Mac with macOS 14 or later, Intel included. You hold the key while you talk and let go to type. See them side by side.

A Mac with macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, Apple silicon or Intel, or a PC with Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) or Windows 11. Plus a microphone (the built-in one is fine) and an internet connection.

On a Mac, download Featherweight Dictation, drag it into Applications and open it. On Windows, get it from the Microsoft Store and open it. A short guide walks you through signing in, allowing the microphone (and Accessibility, on a Mac) and a first try.

Yes. Get Featherweight Dictation from the Microsoft Store. It works the same way: hold Right Alt, talk and let go. One account and one plan cover your Mac and your PC.

On a Mac, to type for you. Featherweight Dictation pastes your words where your cursor is, and checks which app is in front so it can lay them out to fit. It never records your screen. On Windows there's nothing to allow but the microphone.

On a Mac, fn (the 🌐 key) by default; you can switch to right Option or right Command in Featherweight Dictation's menu. On Windows, Right Alt by default, or Right Ctrl or Caps Lock, chosen in the app.

In System Settings, open Keyboard and set “Press 🌐 key to” to “Do Nothing”. If macOS Dictation is set to start with the fn key, give it a different shortcut too.

Some dictation apps, Wispr Flow, Aqua Voice and Willow Voice among them, also start when you hold fn. Quit the other app, or give Featherweight Dictation right Option or right Command in its menu.

Any app where you can type: Mail or Outlook, Slack, Teams, Notes, your browser, Docs, Notion, ChatGPT and the rest. If there's a text cursor, Featherweight Dictation can fill it.

With Smart formatting on, Featherweight Dictation tidies what you said for where it's going: a greeting and paragraphs in Mail, one clean line in Slack, a list in Notes. Turn Smart formatting off in the menu to get your words as you said them.

25 of them. It listens in the language you choose when you set it up, and you can change it any time.

Very little. On a Mac, 31 MB of memory and 0% CPU while it waits, and 4.6 MB on disk. On Windows, about 4 MB of memory while it waits and 10 MB at most while you dictate, no CPU until you talk, and 2.3 MB installed.

No. Your speech is turned into text on our servers, so you need an internet connection. That's also why the app on your computer can stay so small.

Your words usually land about half a second after you let go. We timed it through the live service from 12 cities: 0.32 seconds from Oregon to 0.59 from Mumbai (the median). A long take laid out as an email can take a moment more.

No. Your audio and your words are never stored. We keep only numbers, such as how many words you dictate, to run your plan and show you the time you save. The Privacy Policy has the details.

It's turned into text securely in the cloud, and the text comes straight back to your computer. Neither your audio nor your words are stored. The Privacy Policy has the details.

You get 5 days or 3,000 words, whichever comes first, starting the first time you sign in from the app on your Mac or PC. No card needed. Each computer gets one trial.

Dictate as much as you like for $19 a month, with no word counts. Fair use applies to very heavy use.

Two on one account, Mac or Windows, say one for work and one at home. To use another, sign one out on your account page or from the app on it first. Need more for a good reason? Write to hello@featherweightsoftware.com.

On your account page, choose Cancel subscription. You keep unlimited until the end of the period you've paid for, and you aren't charged again. You can also write to info@featherweightsoftware.com.

Payments are final, except where the law says otherwise or the checkout says so. If something went wrong, write to info@featherweightsoftware.com and we'll look into it.

On a Mac, check that Featherweight Dictation is running (its icon is in your menu bar), and that it's switched on in System Settings, under Privacy & Security, for both Accessibility and Microphone. After a macOS update, switching it off and on again there can help. On Windows, check that its icon is by the clock, and that Settings, Privacy & security, Microphone lets desktop apps use the microphone.

On a Mac, macOS hides menu bar icons when there isn't room, and while an app is full screen. Open Featherweight Dictation again from Applications or Spotlight and its window appears. On Windows, the icon may be under the arrow by the clock; opening Featherweight Dictation from the Start menu shows its window.

Sign one out on your account page, then sign in on the new one.

On a Mac, quit Featherweight Dictation from its menu and drag it from Applications to the Trash. On Windows, uninstall it from Settings, Apps, Installed apps. Then sign that computer out on your account page so it no longer counts.

Write to hello@featherweightsoftware.com and a person will get back to you.