whatisgithub

What is dictly?

vlr-code/dictly — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

28SwiftAudience · generalComplexity · 1/5Setup · easy

In one sentence

A free macOS app that lets you dictate text into any app by holding a hotkey, transcribed fully offline using Whisper.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Dictly))
    What it does
      Hotkey dictation
      Auto pastes transcribed text
      Clipboard fallback
    Tech stack
      Swift
      CoreML
      Whisper model
    Features
      99 languages
      Push to talk or toggle
      Fast local transcription
    Use cases
      Dictate into any app
      Private offline transcription
      Multilingual writing help
    Requirements
      macOS 15 Sequoia
      Apple Silicon only

Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Dictate emails, messages, or documents into any Mac app without typing

USE CASE 2

Transcribe speech privately with no audio ever leaving your device

USE CASE 3

Speed up writing in a non-native language using Dictly's 99 language support

What is it built with?

SwiftCoreMLWhisper

How does it compare?

vlr-code/dictlyaymandakir-gh/gh-notchayushap18/pokefolders
Stars282828
LanguageSwiftSwiftSwift
Setup difficultyeasyeasymoderate
Complexity1/52/52/5
Audiencegeneralvibe coderdesigner

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Requires macOS 15 (Sequoia) or newer and an Apple Silicon Mac.

So what is it?

Dictly is a free, open-source macOS app that lets you dictate text into any application by holding a hotkey. You hold a key, speak, release, and your words are transcribed and automatically pasted into whatever app has focus, a text editor, browser, email, anything. If it cannot get the necessary permissions to auto-paste, it falls back to putting the text on your clipboard so you can paste manually. The key feature is that all of this happens entirely on your device. There is no cloud server, no account required, and your audio never leaves your Mac. It uses OpenAI's Whisper speech recognition model running locally via Apple's CoreML (the machine learning layer built into Apple Silicon chips). The app ships with a built-in Whisper model ready to go, and you can optionally download higher-quality, larger models from within the app if you want better accuracy. It supports 99 languages, with either automatic language detection or a pinned language you set in preferences. You can choose between push-to-talk mode (hold to record, release to transcribe) or toggle mode (press once to start, press again to stop). The transcription speed is roughly 0.1 to 0.3 times real-time on Apple Silicon chips, meaning a ten-second recording takes about one to three seconds to transcribe. The app runs as a menu-bar icon on macOS 15 (Sequoia) or newer, and requires Apple Silicon. It is written in Swift. The full README is longer than what was provided.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Explain how Dictly transcribes speech locally using Whisper and CoreML
Prompt 2
Help me set the hotkey and choose between push-to-talk and toggle mode in Dictly
Prompt 3
What Mac hardware and OS version do I need to run Dictly
Prompt 4
How do I download a higher-quality Whisper model inside Dictly for better accuracy

Frequently asked questions

What is dictly?

A free macOS app that lets you dictate text into any app by holding a hotkey, transcribed fully offline using Whisper.

What language is dictly written in?

Mainly Swift. The stack also includes Swift, CoreML, Whisper.

How hard is dictly to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is dictly for?

Mainly general.

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