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Private dictation on a Mac: where your voice goes, and how to keep it on the machine

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A private dictation app for the Mac is one that turns your voice into text on the Mac itself, with no upload and no account. YapToText, the free app I built, works that way: both of its models ship inside the App Store download, there are no analytics, the source is public under the GPL, and the only network use is a model download you start yourself.

I built it because my hands make typing difficult, so everything I write goes through dictation, including things I would not want on anyone else's server. If you are a lawyer, a therapist, a clinician, a journalist, or anyone who dictates confidential text, this page shows where your voice goes with each kind of tool, what YapToText keeps on your Mac, and how to limit what it keeps. One thing up front: I make no HIPAA or other compliance claims; your organization decides.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. Source on GitHub.

On this page: 11 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Where your voice goes with each kind of tool
  3. What stays on your Mac with YapToText
  4. Check it yourself with Wi-Fi off
    1. Step 1: Cut the connection
    2. Step 2: Dictate a sentence
    3. Step 3: Look in History
  5. Limit what YapToText keeps on your Mac
    1. Step 1: Open the History settings
    2. Step 2: Stop keeping recordings
    3. Step 3: Keep less text, or none
  6. Protect the Mac itself
  7. If you use Apple Dictation, read the line under the switch
    1. Step 1: Read where your voice is processed
    2. Step 2: Check the audio-sharing choice
  8. What I can and cannot tell you about compliance
  9. What it cannot do
  10. The short version
  11. Questions

Steps

  1. Open YapToText's Settings, Advanced, History & audio.
  2. Turn off Also save the audio recording and Keep canceled dictations.
  3. Set Keep to This session only, or turn off Save dictation history.
  4. Press Clear All at the bottom of the History page to remove what is already stored.
  5. Turn Wi-Fi off and dictate a sentence to confirm everything runs on your Mac.

Where your voice goes with each kind of tool

Every dictation tool turns sound into text somewhere. The privacy question is where, and who else is involved. Ask where the audio becomes text, and most of the privacy answer follows.

  • Cloud dictation apps. Wispr Flow's privacy page says transcription always happens in the cloud, and its help center says voice transcription needs internet access. To be fair to it, Wispr says it keeps zero-data-retention agreements with all its third-party AI providers, and a setting under Data and Privacy decides whether your audio and transcripts may be used to improve its own models.
  • Voice features inside other apps. Microsoft says Word's Dictate sends your speech to Microsoft to be turned into text, and that it does not store your audio or the text. Notion's help page says the audio for its AI Meeting Notes is sent to Notion's sub-processors for transcription. Google says that for Voice typing in Docs, your browser controls the speech service and decides how your speech is processed.
  • Apple Dictation. The text below Dictation in System Settings, Keyboard says whether your voice inputs are processed on your Mac and not sent to Siri servers. Apple's macOS Sonoma guide says supported languages are processed on the device on an Apple silicon Mac, while on an Intel-based Mac, or in a language without on-device support, your dictation is sent to Apple.
  • YapToText. Whisper turns your voice into words and Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct cleans them up, both on your Mac. Nothing in a dictation touches the network.

Checked October 3, 2026, on each maker's own pages. Policies change, so check before you rely on one.

Where the audio becomes textWith Wi-Fi offAccount
Wispr FlowThe cloud, always, per its privacy pageNo, transcription needs internet accessSign in during setup
Word's DictateSent to MicrosoftNo, it needs a reliable connectionA Microsoft 365 subscription
Apple DictationOn the Mac or on Siri servers; Keyboard settings says whichOn Apple silicon, in supported languagesBuilt into macOS
YapToTextOn your MacYes, from the first launch of the App Store buildNone

One thing no dictation tool can change: once the words land in an app, that app's rules apply. Text dictated into a cloud document, a web form or an email goes wherever that app sends it. On-device dictation protects your voice; the app you type into decides what happens to the text. The comparison of Mac dictation apps covers more apps, and the Wispr Flow alternative page goes deeper on that one.

What stays on your Mac with YapToText

Two models are inside the App Store build: Whisper Large v3 Turbo (Q5), 574 MB, which hears you, and Phi-3.5 Mini Instruct, shown as 2.3 GB, which tidies the words when a mode asks. Neither is downloaded at first launch, and neither phones home. Your voice is heard, cleaned up and typed without leaving the Mac.

  • No account, no analytics. There is nothing to sign in to, and no telemetry or tracking.
  • One kind of network use. A model download you start on the AI Models page, fetched over HTTPS from Hugging Face. YapToText has no server of its own.
  • No update checks. Updates come from the App Store, and crash reports are only Apple's own, governed by your macOS analytics settings.
  • Diagnostics without words. Copy Diagnostics in Settings, About gathers your Mac model, versions, model setup and latency, never your words, and it goes nowhere unless you paste it somewhere.
  • Files too. The Transcribe a file card on the Utility page transcribes a recording, such as an interview, on your Mac, and nothing is uploaded. The file transcription guide has the steps.
  • Apple Intelligence, if you choose it. On macOS 26, where Apple Intelligence is available, it can take the cleanup job instead of Phi. The app's privacy policy says cleanup runs on device either way, and the Apple Intelligence page explains the choice. Phi is the default.
App Store poster headed Nothing leaves your Mac, over YapToText's AI Models page with both models marked Included.
Figure 1. Both models are marked Included on the AI Models page: they ship inside the App Store build, so a dictation never needs the network.

You do not have to take my word for it. The full source is on GitHub under the GPL-3.0, and the app's privacy policy sits next to it. GitHub has version 1.5.2 today, one release behind the App Store's 1.5.3. The App Store copy is sandboxed and reviewed by Apple. The AI Models guide says where the models live.

Check it yourself with Wi-Fi off

The quickest audit takes a minute, and it works on any dictation app you are considering. If it types with the network off, the audio did not need a server.

Step 1: Cut the connection

  • You: Turn Wi-Fi off from the menu bar, and unplug Ethernet if you use it.
  • macOS: Shows Wi-Fi as off.
  • Check: A web page will not load.

Step 2: Dictate a sentence

  • You: Click into any text field, tap Right Command, say a sentence and tap again.
  • YapToText: Transcribes on the Mac and types the words at your cursor, the same way it does online.
  • Check: The words land. On the Homebrew build with no speech model installed yet, nothing can be transcribed until you download one with Wi-Fi on.

Step 3: Look in History

  • You: Open the History page and click Show pipeline details on the new entry.
  • YapToText: Shows the raw transcript, the final text, the mode and the cleanup model that ran.
  • Check: The entry is there, kept in the app's own folder on your Mac. The next section covers how to keep less of it.

For a deeper audit, read the source, or ask whoever reviews software at your organization to. The offline dictation page has more on what offline means app by app.

Limit what YapToText keeps on your Mac

History is a convenience, and for confidential work it is also a copy. By default it keeps your last 500 dictations, each with its raw transcript, final text, mode, the app it went to and the recording itself, and deletes anything older than 30 days. It lives in a plain JSON file, history.json, inside the app's sandboxed container under Application Support/YapToText, with the recordings as .caf files in an Audio folder next to it. History never leaves your Mac, but keep only what you need.

Step 1: Open the History settings

  • You: Open Settings, Advanced, History & audio.
  • YapToText: Shows every switch that decides what is kept.
  • Check: You can see Save dictation history and Also save the audio recording.

Step 2: Stop keeping recordings

  • You: Turn off Also save the audio recording and Keep canceled dictations.
  • YapToText: Keeps text only, and deletes the recording the moment a dictation ends. A dictation you cancel with Esc is discarded instead of saved.
  • Check: On your next entry, the play button is grayed out and the details say not kept.

Step 3: Keep less text, or none

  • You: Set Keep to This session only, or turn off Save dictation history. For a middle ground, choose Keep last 100, set Auto-delete old items to After 7 days, or turn on Clear history when I quit.
  • YapToText: This session only writes nothing to disk. With history off, dictations are used once and never stored.
  • Check: Quit and reopen the app, and History holds only what your settings allow.

Turning history off stops new entries; it does not remove the ones already there. To clear those, press Clear All at the bottom of the History page, which removes every entry and every recording, or delete single entries, which takes each one's audio with it. Erase All Data, in Settings, Advanced, goes further: it deletes your settings, modes, dictionaries, commands, AI actions, history and saved audio, and starts the app over from the welcome screen.

YapToText's History page: a search field, date and mode filters, and dictations tagged with their mode, app and time.
Figure 2. The History page, where Clear All at the bottom removes every entry and recording, and each row can be deleted on its own.

A few more facts worth knowing:

  • Crash rescue. While you talk, the recording streams to a file inside the app's container, so a crash cannot lose it. At the next launch the app transcribes it and puts the text on your clipboard, even with history off; the recording is kept with an entry only when audio saving is on.
  • Never filed. Quick Edit commands, Utility scratchpad dictations and files transcribed on the Utility page are not saved to History.
  • Never exported by accident. Export Preset, which moves your setup to another Mac, never includes History, and nothing is synced or backed up by the app.
  • The trade-off. Less History means no playback, no Regenerate and no rescue of an old take, and Statistics count only what History keeps.

The History guide covers every setting.

Protect the Mac itself

Everything YapToText keeps sits on your Mac's disk, so the Mac's own protection matters as much as the app's settings. On-device dictation is only as private as the device.

  • FileVault. Apple says FileVault encodes the data on your startup disk so unauthorized users cannot access it. Apple also says a Mac with Apple silicon encrypts its data automatically, and that turning on FileVault adds a layer by requiring your login password to decrypt it. You find it in System Settings, Privacy & Security, FileVault, and you need to be an administrator to set it up.
  • Your organization's setup. If your Mac is managed by an employer or a firm, its IT team may already set encryption and other policies. Ask them before you change anything.
  • Password fields. While Secure Input is on, which usually means a password field, YapToText types instead of pasting, and Quick Edit cannot read a selection there.

If you use Apple Dictation, read the line under the switch

Apple Dictation is free and already on your Mac, and for many people it runs on the device. Apple tells you which in two places. Read the line under the switch instead of guessing.

Step 1: Read where your voice is processed

  • You: Choose Apple menu, System Settings, then click Keyboard in the sidebar and find Dictation.
  • macOS: Shows a line of text below Dictation.
  • Check: The text says whether your voice inputs are processed on your Mac and not sent to Siri servers.

Step 2: Check the audio-sharing choice

  • You: Open System Settings, Privacy & Security, Analytics & Improvements.
  • macOS: Shows Improve Siri & Dictation. Apple says Share Audio Recordings lets Apple store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions, and that Apple may review a sample of it.
  • Check: The switch is set the way you want it.

Apple's macOS Sonoma guide adds one more detail: text you dictate into a search box may be sent to the search provider. The guide to using dictation on a Mac sets Apple Dictation up step by step.

What I can and cannot tell you about compliance

I make no HIPAA or other compliance claims; your organization decides. Nothing on this page is legal advice or a statement that the app meets any rule. I can describe what the app does; whether that fits your obligations is your organization's call.

Some cloud services sell compliance paperwork. Wispr Flow's pricing page, for example, lists org-wide HIPAA enforcement with a signed agreement on its Growth plan. YapToText is one person's project, free, with no paid tier and no team features. If your organization requires a signed agreement from a vendor, that is a question for your organization.

What I can give whoever reviews it for you is the facts, all on this site and in the source:

  • Processing. Speech recognition and cleanup run on the Mac, with no account and no analytics.
  • Network. The only network use is a model download you start, from Hugging Face over HTTPS.
  • Storage. History and recordings live in the app's sandboxed container, with the settings above to limit or clear them.
  • Code. The source is public under the GPL-3.0, so it can be read before it is installed.

YapToText is free on the Mac App Store, and the about page has the facts for the record in one table.

What it cannot do

  • Protect text after it lands. The app you dictate into decides where the words go next.
  • Stand in for your Mac's own protection. History is a plain JSON file, history.json, in the app's container, and it relies on whatever protects your Mac. That is why the two sections above matter.
  • Back up or sync. Nothing is synced or backed up by the app, so a dictation you need belongs in your own document system.
  • Label speakers. A transcribed interview or session recording is plain text, with no timestamps or speaker labels.
  • Run beyond one Mac. There is no iPhone, Windows or team version, and it needs Apple silicon with macOS 14 or later.
  • Make a compliance promise. It describes what it does, and your organization decides the rest.

The short version

  • Cloud apps. Your voice is turned into text on someone else's servers, under their policies.
  • Apple Dictation. On the Mac or on Siri servers; the line below Dictation in Keyboard settings says which.
  • YapToText. On your Mac, with no account and no analytics, and source you can read.
  • History. Turn off audio saving, keep This session only, or Clear All when you are done.

Keep the voice on the Mac, keep only the text you need, and let your organization make the compliance call.

If something here does not match what the app does on your Mac, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreDownload for free. No account, nothing locked, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon. 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

Is there a private dictation app for Mac that works without the cloud?

Yes. YapToText runs its speech model and cleanup model on your Mac, with no account and no analytics, and the App Store build works with Wi-Fi off. The only network use is a model download you start yourself.

Is YapToText HIPAA compliant?

I make no HIPAA or other compliance claims; your organization decides. I can describe what the app does: dictation runs on the Mac, and History can be limited or cleared in Settings, Advanced, History & audio.

Does Apple Dictation send my voice to Apple?

It depends on your Mac and language. The text below Dictation in System Settings, Keyboard says whether your voice is processed on your Mac or sent to Siri servers, and Share Audio Recordings is a separate choice under Improve Siri & Dictation.

Does YapToText save my recordings?

By default, History keeps your last 500 dictations with their recordings for 30 days, on your Mac. Turn off Also save the audio recording, set Keep to This session only, or press Clear All on the History page.

Can I use dictation for confidential client notes on a Mac?

That is for you and your organization to decide. With on-device dictation your voice stays on the Mac, but the app you dictate into decides where the text goes next.