Help
Everything the app can do, one topic per page. The same articles live inside the app under Help.
Auto mode
Auto mode in YapToText is dictation that formats emails automatically, keeps casual chat as spoken, and cleans up the rest without rewriting your voice.
Dictionaries
Custom vocabulary for Mac dictation: YapToText Dictionaries fix misheard names with replacement rules, whole word and case options, and priming.
Energy and battery life
How YapToText handles dictation app battery life on a Mac: models that follow the power source, a model cooldown, a warm microphone, and what each costs.
Your first dictation
How to dictate on Mac with YapToText, a free dictation app: tap Right Command, talk, tap again, and your words are typed at the cursor in any app.
The floating panel
How the YapToText floating panel works: the expanded, compact, and mini layouts, the live waveform, the buttons and keys, and the ring while it thinks.
History and crash rescue
Dictation history in the YapToText Mac app: what is stored, audio playback, search and filters, export, retention limits, and crash recovery on next launch.
Intelligent insert: dictating into the middle of a sentence
How to dictate into the middle of a sentence on a Mac. YapToText's Intelligent insert fixes case, spacing, and the period. Plus how to quiet the beep.
Keys and shortcuts
YapToText's dictation shortcut for Mac: tap Right Command to start and stop, hold it to talk, pause with Space, cancel with Esc, switch modes with 1 to 9.
The menu bar capybara
What the YapToText menu bar icon means in each color, plus everything in the popover: Start Dictation, mode and mic pickers, Regenerate, and Insert last.
AI Models
YapToText is a whisper dictation Mac app with local LLM cleanup. Whisper Large v3 Turbo and Phi-3.5 Mini ship inside the app; swap them or bring your own.
Modes
YapToText modes decide what happens to your words after they are transcribed: Auto, Raw Transcription, Clean Up, Note, Email, Message, Code Comment.
Quick Edit: edit selected text by voice
Edit text by voice on a Mac with YapToText Quick Edit: select words in any app, hold Right Option, say the change, release. Everything runs on your Mac.
Spoken punctuation and commands
How to say punctuation when dictating on a Mac with YapToText: question mark, exclamation point, new line, the insert prefix rule, snippets, and emoji.
Troubleshooting: when dictation types nothing
Mac dictation not working or typing nothing? Check Microphone and Accessibility permissions, input volume, per-app paste method, beeps, and model downloads.
Transcribe Audio Files on Your Mac: Utility and Statistics
Transcribe any audio or video file on your Mac, free and offline, with the YapToText Utility page. Plus local statistics: speaking pace, time saved, streaks.