Download

Speaky Box for Mac.

macOS 13 Ventura or later. Apple silicon and Intel. About 20 MB, lives in the menu bar.

Download for Mac
Free to start. No card. 2,000 words a week. By downloading you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.
Also on Windows 10 and 11: download for Windows, or the ARM version for Snapdragon laptops.
01

Open the DMG and drag it to Applications

It's signed with our Apple Developer ID and notarised by Apple, so macOS opens it without blocking it.

02

Allow the microphone and accessibility

Three switches in System Settings. Speaky Box opens the right page for each and ticks itself once they're on.

03

Pick a key and talk

fn, right option, anything. Hold it, talk, let go. Text lands where your cursor is.

Questions

Before you install.

Which Macs does it run on?
Anything running macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
Is Speaky Box on Windows?
Yes. Windows 10 or 11, on Intel, AMD or ARM, with the same two keys: hold right Ctrl to dictate, right Alt for Smart. Download for Windows or the ARM version. Your account and plan work on both.
Why does it need accessibility permission?
That's how it types into other apps and notices the key you hold. To choose how to write, it also looks at which app is in front and the title of its window. That happens on your Mac and is never sent to us. It doesn't read anything else on your screen.
What does it send, and where?
While you hold the key, your recording goes over an encrypted connection to a speech-to-text service, comes back as text and is deleted. The text is tidied by a language model and typed where your cursor is. We keep a count of your words, never what you said, and nothing is used to train anything. The Privacy Policy has the detail.
Does it work offline?
No. It needs a connection to transcribe.
How do I uninstall it?
Quit it from the menu bar and drag it out of Applications. Your history, words and settings live in the .speakybox folder in your home directory, which you can delete too. If you pay for Pro, cancel it in the app first.
Does it update itself?
It checks for a new version at most once a day and tells you when there is one. It never installs anything by itself.