Intelligent Insert: dictate into the middle of a sentence and it fits

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To dictate into the middle of a sentence on a Mac, put the cursor where the words belong and dictate as usual: YapToText's Intelligent Insert reads the words around the cursor first, lowercases your first word mid-sentence, adds one space where words would collide and drops the trailing period when the sentence carries on. It is on by default, with its switch on the Home page and on the Dictation page, in the Delivery card, where you can also turn it off for one app.

My hands make typing difficult, and words dropped into the middle of a sentence used to need fixing by hand afterward. Intelligent Insert exists so they do not.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

The compact YapToText recording panel: a live waveform beside cancel, pause and stop buttons, a layout button and a button that opens the app.
Figure 1. Stop the dictation, here or with your key, and the words on each side of your cursor are read before the text lands.
On this page: 10 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Dictate into a sentence
    1. Step 1: Click mid-sentence
    2. Step 2: Dictate as usual
  3. What it changes, and what it leaves alone
  4. How it reads around your cursor
  5. Turn it off everywhere, or for one app
  6. Quiet the beep
  7. Limits
  8. If the text still lands wrong
  9. The short version
  10. Questions

Steps

  1. Click where the new words belong, in the middle of a sentence.
  2. Tap Right Command and say the words the way you would say them anywhere.
  3. Tap Right Command again. YapToText reads the words around the cursor before the text lands.
  4. Check that the first letter, the spacing and the trailing period fit the sentence.

Dictate into a sentence

Step 1: Click mid-sentence

  • You: Click between two words, or just before the period that ends a sentence.
  • Check: The cursor blinks exactly where the new words go.

Step 2: Dictate as usual

  • You: Tap Right Command, say the words and tap it again. Do not worry about the capital or the period. If this is your first dictation, how to dictate on a MacBook covers the basics.
  • YapToText: Before the text lands, it reads a few words on each side of the cursor and fits the transcript to them.
  • Check: The words land lowercase mid-sentence, with one space on each side and no stray period.

An example: the sentence reads “I will send it tomorrow.” and the cursor sits right after the word “it”.

Say: With the cursor in the middle of that sentence.

along with the invoice

You get: “I will send it along with the invoice tomorrow.” Whisper's capital A and closing period are fixed before the words land.

Dictate the words as if they stood alone, and Intelligent Insert fits them in.

What it changes, and what it leaves alone

  • Case. Mid-sentence, the first letter of your first word is lowercased. The word I, its contractions such as I'll, and words whose second letter is also a capital, like an acronym, keep their capitals.
  • Spacing. One space goes before the words unless a space or an opening bracket or quote is already there, and one after when the text carries on with a letter or a number.
  • The trailing period. Dropped when the sentence continues after the cursor, or when a period, question mark or exclamation point already sits there.
  • A new sentence before a period. Dictate four words or more right before the period that ends the previous sentence, and YapToText closes that sentence first and keeps your capital. A dictation that starts with which, who, whom, whose, and, but, or, nor or because joins the old sentence instead, after a comma, or after a plain space for because.
  • A selection. Dictating over selected text replaces it, shaped like what it replaces: the first letter's case and the closing mark follow the selection.

The rest of the transcript is left alone. It follows you if you switch apps in the middle of a dictation, and since 1.5.2 it is more reliable in Gmail, chat pages and Electron apps. It only touches the edges: the first letter, the spaces and the final mark.

How it reads around your cursor

YapToText is sandboxed, and a sandboxed app cannot read another app's text directly. So it reads with a few invisible keystrokes: when you stop, it briefly selects a few words on each side of your cursor, copies them, puts the cursor back and restores your clipboard. Nothing it copies is stored, and nothing leaves your Mac. It reads a few words around the cursor, never your whole document.

YapToText's Home page: the Start Dictation button, the Keys card with Right Command and Right Option, and Intelligent Insert.
Figure 2. The Intelligent Insert card on the Home page says it plainly: it reads around the cursor with hidden keystrokes, and some apps beep at them.

The read needs the same Accessibility permission that lets the app type. If something is selected when you stop, it skips the read and replaces the selection, and in a password field, while Secure Input is on, it skips the read and the text goes in as dictated.

Turn it off everywhere, or for one app

Intelligent Insert has one switch with two homes, the Home page and the Dictation page's Delivery card, and the Delivery card also keeps the list of apps where it stays off.

YapToText's Dictation settings page on a Mac: the Keys, Recording, Microphone and Delivery cards.
Figure 3. The Delivery card on the Dictation page: the Intelligent Insert switch, the note about the beep, and the off list, with the terminals already in it.
  • Intelligent Insert (default on). Off, the transcript goes in exactly as it came out, whatever surrounds the cursor.
  • Terminals (off automatically). Terminal, iTerm2, Warp, Ghostty, kitty, Alacritty, WezTerm, Hyper and Termius start in the list, because the keystrokes it reads with are shortcuts there and could trigger commands. Remove one with its minus button to turn it back on.
  • Turn off in another app. Adds any running app to the list.

Turning it off for one app leaves it working everywhere else.

Quiet the beep

Some apps refuse one of the invisible keystrokes, a copy with nothing selected for example, and macOS plays its alert sound for each one. That is the app declining a key, it is harmless, and the transcript lands either way.

  • You: Press Open Sound Settings under the switch, or open System Settings, Sound, and drag Alert volume, in Sound Effects, all the way down.
  • macOS: Lowers only alert sounds. Apple notes that the alert volume is relative to your overall volume.
  • Check: Music, video and dictation sounds play as before, and the beep is gone.

Turning Intelligent Insert off for that app ends the beeps too. If one app beeps on every dictation, tell me its name on GitHub. One slider silences the beep without touching anything else.

Limits

  • Names at the start. A name that starts your dictation mid-sentence is lowercased too, unless its second letter is a capital. Select it and say capitalize this with Quick Edit, or turn Intelligent Insert off for that app.
  • Apps that never answer. After three reads in a row get no answer in an app, YapToText stops reading there and inserts plainly, and tries again every 25th dictation. Browsers are never written off, because the answer depends on the page.
  • Empty fields. With nothing on either side there is nothing to adapt to, so the text goes in as dictated.
  • Terminals. Off by default, for the reason above.
  • The beep. Some apps beep at the read, as described above.

If the text still lands wrong

  1. Check the switch. Intelligent Insert must be on, on the Home page or the Dictation page, and the app must not be in the off list.
  2. Click again. Click exactly where the words go before you start. The read starts from the cursor.
  3. Check the app. In terminals it is off on purpose, and an app that never answers gets plain text.
  4. Fix one word. Select it and use Quick Edit. Capitalize this is instant and skips the AI.
  5. Tell me. Open a GitHub issue with the app's name, the sentence and what landed.

More delivery fixes are in YapToText troubleshooting, and the guide to dictating into any app on a Mac goes app by app.

The short version

  • Click mid-sentence. Then dictate as if the words stood alone.
  • Let it fix the edges. It handles the first letter, the spaces and the final period.
  • Lower Alert volume. Or turn it off for the app that beeps.

Put the cursor where the words belong. The fitting is automatic. If it fits something wrong, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Sources

Questions

How do I dictate into the middle of a sentence on a Mac?

With YapToText, click where the words belong and dictate as usual. Intelligent Insert lowercases the first word, fixes the spacing and drops the trailing period so the words fit the sentence.

Why does my Mac beep after I dictate?

Intelligent Insert reads the words around your cursor with invisible keystrokes, and some apps refuse one of them, so macOS plays its alert sound. Turn Alert volume down in System Settings, Sound, or turn Intelligent Insert off for that app.

Does YapToText read my whole document?

No. It briefly selects a few words on each side of the cursor, copies them and restores your clipboard. Nothing is stored and nothing leaves your Mac.

Will it lowercase a name I dictate mid-sentence?

Yes, if the name is the first word you dictate there, unless its second letter is also a capital. Select the name and say capitalize this with Quick Edit to fix it in one step.

Does Intelligent Insert work in Terminal?

No. It is off in Terminal, iTerm2, Warp, Ghostty, kitty, Alacritty, WezTerm, Hyper and Termius, because the keystrokes it reads with are shortcuts there. Your words still go in, just unadapted.

What happens if I dictate over selected text?

The dictation replaces the selection, shaped like it: the first letter's case and the closing mark follow what you selected.