Voice Transcription

Overview

VoiceTypr provides instant voice-to-text transcription that works system-wide across all your applications. Your voice recordings are transcribed locally on your device using state-of-the-art AI models, with automatic insertion at your cursor position.

How It Works

Press Your Hotkey

Activate recording using your configured system-wide hotkey (default: Cmd+Shift+Space on macOS, Ctrl+Shift+Space on Windows).

Speak Naturally

VoiceTypr captures your voice using your selected microphone. Speak naturally - the AI handles grammar, punctuation, and formatting.

Stop Recording

Release or press your hotkey again (depending on your recording mode) to stop.

Automatic Transcription

The audio is transcribed locally on your device using your selected AI model. No cloud processing required.

Text Insertion

Transcribed text is automatically inserted at your cursor position in any application.

Recording Modes

VoiceTypr supports two recording modes to fit your workflow:

Toggle Mode
Push-to-Talk Mode

Toggle mode (default) lets you press the hotkey once to start recording and press it again to stop.

recording_mode: 'toggle'

Best for:

Longer dictations
Hands-free operation after starting
Less physically demanding

Usage:

Press hotkey → Recording starts
Speak your content
Press hotkey again → Recording stops

Push-to-Talk mode requires you to hold the hotkey while speaking.

recording_mode: 'push_to_talk'

Best for:

Quick voice commands
Precise control over recording duration
Preventing accidental recordings

Usage:

Press and hold hotkey → Recording starts
Speak while holding
Release hotkey → Recording stops immediately

You can optionally configure a separate push-to-talk key different from your main recording hotkey using the use_different_ptt_key setting.

Automatic Text Insertion

Once transcription completes, VoiceTypr automatically inserts the text at your current cursor position.

How Text Insertion Works

Clipboard Preservation: Your original clipboard content is saved and restored after insertion (500ms delay)
Universal Compatibility: Works in any application that accepts text input
Cursor Position: Text appears exactly where your cursor is located

On macOS, automatic text insertion requires Accessibility Permission. VoiceTypr will prompt you to grant this permission during onboarding.

Clipboard Fallback

If you prefer manual control, you can enable the keep_transcription_in_clipboard setting to keep the transcription in your clipboard instead of automatic insertion:

keep_transcription_in_clipboard: true

With this enabled, you can paste the transcription wherever you want using Cmd+V (macOS) or Ctrl+V (Windows).

Transcription History

VoiceTypr automatically saves all your transcriptions for easy access and reuse.

Viewing History

Open VoiceTypr

Click the menubar icon to open the main window.

Navigate to Recordings

Go to the Recordings tab to see your transcription history.

Browse and Copy

View up to 50 recent transcriptions. Click any transcription to copy it to your clipboard.

Managing History

Transcription history includes:

interface TranscriptionHistory {
  id: string;           // Unique identifier
  text: string;         // Transcribed text
  timestamp: Date;      // When it was created
  model: string;        // Which model was used
}

Automatic Cleanup

Configure automatic cleanup of old transcriptions using the transcription_cleanup_days setting:

Set to null or undefined to keep transcriptions indefinitely
Set to a number (e.g., 30) to auto-delete transcriptions older than that many days

transcription_cleanup_days: 30  // Delete transcriptions older than 30 days

Privacy and Offline Operation

VoiceTypr is designed with privacy as a core principle.

100% Offline Transcription

All voice transcription happens locally on your device. Your voice recordings never leave your computer.

What stays offline:

Voice recording capture
Audio processing and transcription
All AI model inference
Transcription history storage

What requires internet:

Initial model downloads
AI enhancement features (optional)
License validation
App updates

Data Storage

Recordings: Temporary audio files are deleted after transcription
Transcriptions: Stored locally in your app data directory
Models: Downloaded once and cached on your device
No Telemetry: VoiceTypr does not send usage data or analytics

Advanced Features

Silence Detection

VoiceTypr includes automatic silence detection to stop recording when you pause speaking:

Uses Voice Activity Detection (VAD) to monitor audio levels
Configurable silence threshold and duration
Helps prevent unnecessarily long recordings

Quick Cancel

Made a mistake? Double-tap ESC to quickly cancel the current recording:

Press ESC twice quickly to cancel a recording without saving it. This is faster than waiting for transcription to complete.

Audio Feedback

Configure audio feedback for recording events:

play_sound_on_recording: true       // Play sound when recording starts
play_sound_on_recording_end: true   // Play sound when recording stops

Visual Indicator

The pill indicator shows recording status on your screen:

pill_indicator_mode: 'when_recording'  // Options: 'never' | 'always' | 'when_recording'
pill_indicator_position: 'top-center'  // Screen position
pill_indicator_offset: 20              // Distance from edge (10-100px)

Supported Languages

VoiceTypr supports 99+ languages out of the box. Select your language in Settings:

language: 'en'  // ISO 639-1 language code

Some models (like *.en Whisper variants and Parakeet -v2 models) only support English. VoiceTypr will automatically enforce English when these models are selected.

Troubleshooting

No Speech Detected

If you see “No speech detected” errors:

Check your microphone is selected correctly in Settings
Verify microphone permissions are granted
Test your microphone in another app
Adjust your recording environment to reduce background noise

Text Not Inserting

On macOS:

Ensure Accessibility permission is granted
Check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
VoiceTypr should be listed and enabled

On Windows:

No special permissions required
Try the clipboard fallback mode if insertion fails

Poor Transcription Quality

Use a better quality microphone
Reduce background noise
Speak clearly and at a moderate pace
Try a larger model for better accuracy (see AI Models)
Use AI Enhancement to clean up transcriptions (see AI Enhancement)

Get Started

Core Features

Guides

Platform Specific

Help

Voice Transcription

Overview

How It Works

Recording Modes

Automatic Text Insertion

How Text Insertion Works

Clipboard Fallback

Transcription History

Viewing History

Managing History

Privacy and Offline Operation

100% Offline Transcription

Data Storage

Advanced Features

Silence Detection

Quick Cancel

Audio Feedback

Visual Indicator

Supported Languages

Troubleshooting

No Speech Detected

Text Not Inserting

Poor Transcription Quality

​Overview

​How It Works

​Recording Modes

​Automatic Text Insertion

​How Text Insertion Works

​Clipboard Fallback

​Transcription History

​Viewing History

​Managing History

​Privacy and Offline Operation

​100% Offline Transcription

​Data Storage

​Advanced Features

​Silence Detection

​Quick Cancel

​Audio Feedback

​Visual Indicator

​Supported Languages

​Troubleshooting

​No Speech Detected

​Text Not Inserting

​Poor Transcription Quality

Overview

How It Works

Recording Modes

Automatic Text Insertion

How Text Insertion Works

Clipboard Fallback

Transcription History

Viewing History

Managing History

Privacy and Offline Operation

100% Offline Transcription

Data Storage

Advanced Features

Silence Detection

Quick Cancel

Audio Feedback

Visual Indicator

Supported Languages

Troubleshooting

No Speech Detected

Text Not Inserting

Poor Transcription Quality