VoiceInk Modes and triggers: how it switches behavior by app, website and spoken word

By Ryleigh Newman · Published October 10, 2026

A Mode in VoiceInk is a saved way of dictating: which transcription model and language to use, whether an AI step cleans up or rewrites the text, what context that step can see, and where the result goes. Triggers pick the Mode for you. An app trigger matches the app in front, a website trigger matches the page in your browser, a word trigger is a phrase you say, and a shortcut starts recording in one Mode directly.

People often search for this as Power Mode. VoiceInk's current docs call the feature Modes. I built YapToText, a different dictation app for the Mac, so read what I say about VoiceInk with that in mind. Every fact about VoiceInk here is from its documentation, read on October 9, 2026.

This 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.

This guide in other languages: العربية, Čeština, Dansk, Deutsch, Ελληνικά, Español, Suomi, Français, עברית, हिन्दी, Magyar, Bahasa Indonesia, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Norsk, Nederlands, Polski, Português, Română, Русский, Slovenčina, Svenska, ไทย, Türkçe, Українська, Tiếng Việt, 简体中文, 繁體中文

The starter Modes

From VoiceInk's docs page VoiceInk Modes, read October 9, 2026. Which AI workflows are available depends on the provider you connect.

The four kinds of trigger

• App. A specific Mac app, such as Mail or Slack. VoiceInk checks the active app when recording starts.
• Website. A domain or part of an address, such as mail.google.com. It reads the current page in Safari, Chrome, Arc, Edge, Brave and several other browsers. Firefox is not supported for this.
• Word. A phrase said at the start or end of a dictation, such as email mode. VoiceInk removes the phrase and processes the rest with that Mode.
• Keyboard shortcut. Starts recording directly in that Mode, skipping app and website matching.

One detail matters for word triggers: the Mode switches after transcription, so the audio is not transcribed again with the new Mode's model or language. Only the processing changes.

Add a trigger

1. Open Modes and edit a Mode.
2. In Triggers, click the plus button.
3. Choose a suggested group, search your installed apps, enter a website, or enter a trigger word.

Suggested groups cover AI, Email, Messaging and Writing apps and sites, and you can remove individual entries after adding one. If several website rules match, the first matching Mode wins, so put a specific path before a broad domain. macOS may ask for Automation permission so VoiceInk can read the browser's address.

What a Mode can change

• Transcription. The model, real-time behavior, language and paragraph formatting.
• AI Enhancement. The provider, the model and the prompt, or no AI at all.
• Context. Whether the prompt can use selected text, clipboard text and visible screen text.
• Output. Paste into the app, Respond inside the recorder, or run a Custom Command on the text.
• Default. The Mode used when no app or website trigger matches.

VoiceInk Refine, its local cleanup model, has a fixed job and does not take custom prompts or context. For those, VoiceInk's docs point to a local model server or a hosted provider with your own key.

The same idea in YapToText

YapToText has modes too, with one difference in how they are chosen. Auto mode is on by default and picks the formatting from what you are saying and where you are typing, so most people never set up a trigger.

VoiceInk from its docs, read October 9, 2026. YapToText from its own settings.

VoiceInk gives you more to configure. YapToText aims to need no configuration. The modes help page and the Auto mode page explain mine, and the VoiceInk alternative page compares the two apps overall.

This 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 short version

• A Mode. Model, language, AI prompt, context and output, saved together.
• Triggers. App, website, spoken word, or shortcut.
• Word triggers. Change the processing, not the transcription.
• Default Mode. Used when nothing else matches.
• YapToText. Auto mode chooses for you.

If VoiceInk changes how Modes work, open an issue on GitHub and I will update this page. Every one gets read.

This 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.

Related

• VoiceInk guides: every page on this site about VoiceInk, by topic
• VoiceInk custom prompts: the input tags, the system template, and prompts that work
• VoiceInk keeps changing the language or model: a Mode is doing it, and here is how to find which
• How to use VoiceInk on a Mac: from the first dictation to Modes, the Dictionary and History
• VoiceInk Context Awareness: what it reads from your Mac, and where that text goes
• Transcribing audio and video files with VoiceInk: formats, the queue, and what a Mode does to them
• VoiceInk keyboard shortcuts: the recording key, its four modes, and every shortcut after it
• VoiceInk Custom Commands: send your dictation to a script instead of pasting it
• The VoiceInk Dictionary: vocabulary, word replacements, Auto Learn and filler words
• VoiceInk Refine and AI Enhancement: clean up dictation locally, and when you need a provider

Sources

• https://tryvoiceink.com/docs/modes (checked 2026-10-09)
• https://tryvoiceink.com/docs/mode-triggers (checked 2026-10-09)
• https://tryvoiceink.com/docs/mode-settings (checked 2026-10-09)
• https://tryvoiceink.com/docs/voiceink-refine (checked 2026-10-09)
• https://github.com/ryleighnewman/YapToText (checked 2026-10-10)
• https://apps.apple.com/us/app/yaptotext/id6786382289 (checked 2026-10-10)

Questions