Send it for me: press Return after the words land

By Published

In a chat app or an assistant's prompt box, a dictated message still needs one more key to go out. YapToText can press it for you, per app: Return in most apps, Command-Return in the few that send with it. The setting is in Settings, on the Advanced tab, in the Text output card.

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.

Steps

  1. Open the app you want it in, so YapToText can list it.
  2. Open YapToText Settings and the Advanced tab.
  3. In Text output, under After a dictation lands, press Add App and pick the app.
  4. Leave it on Press Return, or pick Press ⌘Return if that app sends with Command-Return.

Set it for an app

Add App lists the apps that are running, which is why the app has to be open first. A new row starts on Press Return. The menu on the row has three choices:

  • Press Return. Right for most chat apps and message boxes.
  • Press ⌘Return. For apps where Return starts a new line and Command-Return sends.
  • Nothing. Keeps the row but stops the key.

The minus button removes the app from the list. If you are not sure which key an app sends with, type a test message there and press Return yourself first.

When the key is pressed

The key is pressed only after real text has landed, and only while that app is still in front. A Return sent into some other window could send whatever happens to be typed there, so if you switch away first, nothing is pressed. There is also a pause of under a fifth of a second before the key, so the pasted words arrive first and the message is never sent empty.

A cancelled dictation is never inserted, so nothing is sent. Press Esc while you are still talking if you change your mind.

Per app or per mode

A mode can do the same thing. In the mode editor, the output choice Type + Return types the text and then presses Return, wherever you use that mode. The per-app setting follows the app instead, whatever mode you are in. Most people want the per-app one: it means Slack always sends and a document never does.

About the author. I am Ryleigh Newman, and I make YapToText. My hands do not work well enough to type for long, so I dictate nearly everything, and I built this app because I needed it. More about me and the app.

Sources

Questions

Can YapToText send a message for me after I dictate it?

Yes. Add the app under After a dictation lands in Settings, Advanced, Text output, and it presses Return or Command-Return the moment your words are inserted.

What if I switch apps before the words land?

The key is only pressed while the app the words went into is still in front, so a message is never sent into the wrong window.

Is it on by default?

No. The list is empty until you add an app.