7 ms·

Show HN: Privacy-First Voice-to-Text for macOS

31 points by irqlevel 1y ago

leakycap 1y ago
This looks awesome, there are a lot of Whisper-based tools on macOS that have become paid for basic features I'll definitely try this out
- irqlevel 1y ago
  Thank you — any feedback is appreciated. I want to be useful, not rich, so I made it open and free for everyone
- Leftium 1y ago
  Also check out: https://handy.computer https://handy.computer - (Show HN discussion: https://hw.leftium.com/#/item/44302416 https://hw.leftium.com/#/item/44302416) WhisperClip is cool because it transcribes as you are recording. Most other tools I've tried wait for the recording to finish before any transcription starts.
seemaze 1y ago
As someone who doesn't use dictation in any form, I'm curious how this compares to the built-in dictation functions of macOS or iOS?
- youniverse 1y ago
  I believe audio is normally processed on device but transcripts can be sent to apple. Even apps like superwhisper I'm looking to ditch because during an update they swapped my local models to cloud models which is a crazy breach of trust. Very happy to see this stuff!
malshe 1y ago
I am definitely gonna try this out. I use dictation daily so this looks really useful.
- malshe 1y ago
  Just now tried it. It's really good! I will keep using it more today to see if it performs well consistently. I had a small issue while onboarding. The app asked for microphone access, which I granted. It showed the task was completed. But the blue Next button stayed grayed out. I forced quit the app and then it all worked out fine from that point onward. I am using M4 Pro Mac Mini running MacOS 15.6.1
  - irqlevel 1y ago
    Thank you for the feedback. I’ll work on reproducing the issue and will do my best to fix it.
    - malshe 1y ago
      I used it quite a bit today and happy to say that it worked flawlessly. Thanks for making this app!
  - Leftium 1y ago
    This also happened to me. And the overall onboarding/setup was clunky compared to other apps - SuperWhisper (probably has the best onboarding) - Handy - Whispering --- I think it could be improved by at least removing optional steps like downloading the LLM for transformations.
    - irqlevel 1y ago
      Thank you for the feedback. I will improve the onboarding and setup in the next app release.
  - irqlevel 1y ago
    This issue has been reproduced and fixed in version 1.0.44, now available on the website. Note that when you update the app, the models will be recompiled, so the app may briefly hang during recording. Each new app version → new hash → AI (MLX) code recompilation.
Leftium 1y ago
The demo video[1] shows the transcription starts before recording is stopped, but I couldn't recreate this with the actual app. The transcription would not show after a minute of recording, but it was all there once I hit stop. Was this changed since the video was made? Or is there a setting? [1]: https://youtu.be/6n0jY7k-iz4 https://youtu.be/6n0jY7k-iz4
- irqlevel 1y ago
  Sorry about that — this feature is no longer available due to its cloud-based nature, but I plan to bring it back. The video was recorded before open-sourcing, so I’ll remove it to avoid confusion. Update: Replaced the site video with a demo showing the actual app behavior.

31 points by irqlevel 1y ago

This looks awesome, there are a lot of Whisper-based tools on macOS that have become paid for basic features I'll definitely try this out

irqlevel 1y ago
Thank you — any feedback is appreciated. I want to be useful, not rich, so I made it open and free for everyone
Leftium 1y ago
Also check out: https://handy.computer https://handy.computer - (Show HN discussion: https://hw.leftium.com/#/item/44302416 https://hw.leftium.com/#/item/44302416) WhisperClip is cool because it transcribes as you are recording. Most other tools I've tried wait for the recording to finish before any transcription starts.

seemaze 1y ago

As someone who doesn't use dictation in any form, I'm curious how this compares to the built-in dictation functions of macOS or iOS?

youniverse 1y ago
I believe audio is normally processed on device but transcripts can be sent to apple. Even apps like superwhisper I'm looking to ditch because during an update they swapped my local models to cloud models which is a crazy breach of trust. Very happy to see this stuff!

malshe 1y ago

I am definitely gonna try this out. I use dictation daily so this looks really useful.

malshe 1y ago
Just now tried it. It's really good! I will keep using it more today to see if it performs well consistently. I had a small issue while onboarding. The app asked for microphone access, which I granted. It showed the task was completed. But the blue Next button stayed grayed out. I forced quit the app and then it all worked out fine from that point onward. I am using M4 Pro Mac Mini running MacOS 15.6.1
- irqlevel 1y ago
  Thank you for the feedback. I’ll work on reproducing the issue and will do my best to fix it.
  - malshe 1y ago
    I used it quite a bit today and happy to say that it worked flawlessly. Thanks for making this app!
- Leftium 1y ago
  This also happened to me. And the overall onboarding/setup was clunky compared to other apps - SuperWhisper (probably has the best onboarding) - Handy - Whispering --- I think it could be improved by at least removing optional steps like downloading the LLM for transformations.
  - irqlevel 1y ago
    Thank you for the feedback. I will improve the onboarding and setup in the next app release.
- irqlevel 1y ago
  This issue has been reproduced and fixed in version 1.0.44, now available on the website. Note that when you update the app, the models will be recompiled, so the app may briefly hang during recording. Each new app version → new hash → AI (MLX) code recompilation.

Leftium 1y ago

The demo video[1] shows the transcription starts before recording is stopped, but I couldn't recreate this with the actual app. The transcription would not show after a minute of recording, but it was all there once I hit stop. Was this changed since the video was made? Or is there a setting? [1]: https://youtu.be/6n0jY7k-iz4 https://youtu.be/6n0jY7k-iz4

irqlevel 1y ago
Sorry about that — this feature is no longer available due to its cloud-based nature, but I plan to bring it back. The video was recorded before open-sourcing, so I’ll remove it to avoid confusion. Update: Replaced the site video with a demo showing the actual app behavior.