What languages does Keebye support?

English by default, tuned for speed. An opt-in multilingual engine covers exactly 25 languages. If you need more than that, Keebye is not the right tool yet.

Which apps can it type into?

Keebye inserts into focused non-secure fields by paste or by the type mode you select. It deliberately refuses secure and password fields, and unusual controls should be tested directly.

Does it keep recordings of what I say?

No audio is kept. History is text-only, stored locally on your Mac, and auto-deleted after 30 days.

How do I start and stop dictating?

The default gesture is hold-to-talk on Right Command: hold, speak, release. Tapping the key toggles dictation on and off instead, and Esc backs out of one in progress. Fn and Right Option are available as alternative hotkeys.

Voice Dictation for Mac: On-Device and Offline

Q: Does transcription really run on-device?

Yes. All three engines run on your Mac: Parakeet for English by default, an opt-in multilingual engine covering 25 languages, or Apple's native engine. After the one-time model download, dictation works offline, and there is no telemetry.

What built-in macOS dictation does well, where it falls short, and how Keebye differs: local models, focused-app insertion, and a custom dictionary.

Why a dedicated dictation app

Your Mac already ships with dictation, so a dedicated app has to earn its place. The case for one is volume: when speaking becomes a primary way you put text into the machine — prompts to AI agents, long messages, terminal commands — the details start to matter. Where does the audio go, does the text land cleanly in the apps you actually use, does it know your vocabulary, and does it work when the network doesn't.

Keebye's answers: on-device, focused non-secure fields, vocabulary you can add to a custom dictionary, and offline transcription after a one-time model download.

When built-in dictation is enough

Honest answer first: macOS dictation is free, already installed, and fine for a lot of people. If you dictate occasionally — a short message here, a note there — the built-in feature is a perfectly reasonable place to start, and you should try it before paying anyone for a dictation app, including us.

Where a dedicated tool starts earning its keep is daily, high-volume use: a hold-to-talk hotkey you can hit from any app without thinking, a dictionary that knows your project's jargon, insertion that survives terminals, and cleanup that strips filler words before the text lands. If that list doesn't describe your day, keep your money.

How Keebye works

Hold Right ⌘, speak, and release — the transcribed text is inserted at your cursor in the focused editable field. Tap instead of hold to toggle longer dictations; Esc cancels. Keebye deliberately refuses secure fields.

Speech-to-text runs on-device with your choice of three engines: Parakeet, the fast English-tuned default; an opt-in multilingual engine covering 25 languages; or Apple's native engine. After the one-time model download it works offline, and there is no telemetry.

Insertion follows the mode you choose. Paste is the default and uses a terminal-aware plan; type mode sends Unicode keystrokes without touching the clipboard for SSH, tmux, non-QWERTY layouts, and other paste-hostile targets. Keebye refuses secure and password fields. Cleanup is local too: fast rules strip filler words and fix punctuation, with an optional on-device LLM polish pass that falls back when its fidelity check rejects the output. A custom dictionary reduces name and jargon corrections, and history is text-only, local, and auto-deleted after 30 days.

Setup in two minutes

After installing, macOS will ask you to approve two permissions — Accessibility and microphone — and then you pick the hotkey: Right ⌘ out of the box, Fn or Right ⌥ if you'd rather. Launch-at-login keeps it always ready.

A minute in the custom dictionary — the names, products, and technical terms you say constantly — reduces repeated corrections. Proper nouns still deserve a review.

Limits, honestly

Keebye transcribes in batch, on key-release: you speak, let go, and the whole passage arrives at once. If watching words appear live as you talk is what you want from dictation, Keebye isn't that — stick with the built-in feature.

The default model is English-tuned; multilingual coverage is an opt-in engine with exactly 25 languages, not hundreds. And Keebye is macOS only — there is no Windows version.

Try the built-in tool on an ordinary message first. If the real failure appears only when the network drops, read Dictation that works offline. If the issue is daily volume or terminal insertion, run the three-question test in Keebye alternatives before requesting another app. If you're here because your wrists hurt, start with the dictation for RSI guide — it treats voice as workload reduction, not treatment.