Voice to text · Mac

Voice to text on Mac that works everywhere

Press a hotkey and dictate into any app on your Mac — notes, email, Slack, your editor. Fast, private, on-device transcription with AI cleanup and your own vocabulary.

Free download. No account required.

Apple's built-in dictation only gets you so far

macOS dictation is handy in a pinch, but it trails off on longer passages, struggles with names and jargon, and offers little control over formatting or cleanup. For real work, most people give up and go back to typing.

Vowen is purpose-built dictation for the Mac. It runs on-device for speed and privacy, learns the words you actually use, and types directly wherever your cursor is — then can clean up the text with AI so you're not editing filler words and stray punctuation.

Dictation that keeps up with your Mac

Works in every app

A global hotkey lets you dictate into any text field on macOS — no per-app setup, no copy and paste.

On-device & private

Vowen transcribes locally using fast on-device models, so your voice doesn't have to leave your Mac.

Custom vocabulary

Teach Vowen the names, acronyms, and technical terms you use, and it remembers them for next time.

AI cleanup

Optionally turn raw speech into polished text — filler removed, punctuation fixed, formatted the way you want.

Set up voice to text on your Mac

  1. 1

    Download Vowen for macOS

    Install the free app. It runs on macOS 14.0 and later, including Apple Silicon.

  2. 2

    Grant accessibility permission

    macOS asks for accessibility access so Vowen can type into other apps. A one-time setup.

  3. 3

    Pick your hotkey

    Choose the shortcut you'll hold to dictate — the default works system-wide.

  4. 4

    Start dictating

    Put your cursor anywhere, hold the hotkey, and speak. Your words appear as text.

Trusted by thousands of early adopters building with voice.

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Words Spoken
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Meetings transcribed
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Support

Common questions.

Still deciding? Ask us anything.

How is Vowen different from Apple's built-in dictation?
Vowen is built for sustained, real-world use: it handles long-form speech, learns your custom vocabulary, offers AI cleanup, and gives you control over formatting — areas where the built-in macOS dictation is limited.
Does voice to text work in any Mac app?
Yes. Vowen types wherever your cursor is via a global hotkey, so it works in virtually any app with a text field — from Notes and Mail to Slack and your code editor.
Is my voice processed on-device?
By default, yes. Vowen uses on-device models so your audio stays on your Mac. Cloud models are optional and only used if you enable them.
What macOS version do I need?
Vowen supports macOS 14.0 or later, and is optimized for Apple Silicon (M-series) chips.

Talk instead of type on your Mac

Download Vowen free and add system-wide voice to text to macOS in minutes.