I use the inbuilt mac dictation tool. Press right cmd twice and away you go.
It also writes as you speak which some of these third party apps don’t do.
Works fine for me. Free.
On iPad and iPhone. Again the inbuilt dictation is good.
Odd. I sat down to set up Sotto just now and the website (https://sotto.to) no longer seems to be working. Drat!
Just a temporary issue, I hope? I liked the idea of Shortcuts integrations, which none of the other options mentioned here seem to offer.
It’s strange, I downloaded it the other day, but you’re right. The site won’t load. I hope they’re not out of business so soon. That said, I find myself defaulting to SuperWhisper anyway.
Update: I bought the lifetime version of Superwhisper. It’s a solid app overall, and it felt the most polished and stable to me. It also supports the newest models.
I also own a VoiceInk license, but based on my conversation with the developer, it sounds like they plan to keep it in maintenance mode and aren’t very motivated to add major new features.
Another reason I chose Superwhisper is its automation via MacroWhisper. You can dictate commands and, with the right setup, it can perform actions for you. For example, if you say “Search this on Perplexity,” it can open your browser and run that search on Perplexity. Sky is the limit.
How easy do you find Superwhisper to set up and use these automations? have watched the automations by Robert J. P. Oberg from “A Fading Thought” and they are impressive and intimidating.
I have SuperWhisper Lifetime as well. I wish ScreencastsOnline will make a 2 or 3 part video series to showcase the full potential of that app. It’s very good and the developer is very responsive and active.
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It’s fairly easy to set up, and you can make it as complex as you want. I’m somewhere in the middle: I started using Superwhisper with a bunch of modes (dictation+fix grammar, AI assistant etc.). I mostly use two modes. I also have Macro Whisper setup for some basic stuff like I mentioned…searching for stuff…asking questions…all of them open in browser. But you can make it more complex by executing shell scripts or doing whatever you want. I will report back in a couple of weeks and see if I want to push further.
One of the most important reasons for me to use this is I don’t have to worry about all the AI usage, rate limits, and LLM pricing for good models. Earlier, I was using VoiceInk with Groq and Cerebras providers, but when using better models, I was always worried about the context size and billing. Occasionally, I’ll spend close to $1 a day, or let’s say $0.50 a day, and over time that accumulates.
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It’s very good and the developer is very responsive and active.
I would say the developer is not super responsive. He’s okaish responsive IMO. He responsive to very urgent and important posts. For usual messages, he’s not super active like some of the other communities like spokenly.
However, it’s also maybe because they’re trying to expand the app and building so many features…he himself builds stuff, so I can understand that. They are actively hiring too.
As long as they keep building new features and keep delivering, it’s okay if they don’t respond to every single user.
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Every time I think about using dictation, I run up against a problem that I don’t see discussed very often. My office is one of those open plan configurations so if I start dictating all of my colleagues will be able to hear what I’m saying.
Even at home, when I think about dictating into my journal, I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment. My family would also be able to hear what I’m dictating and I don’t want to self censor what I write in my journal.
I know I can find a conference room at work or go out for a walk at home, but then that’s a lot of effort to jot down some quick thoughts.
How do the dictation enthusiasts in this forum overcome this problem?
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OK, my shortcoming, but I bought Sotto and am having trouble getting it to begin dictation on my M1 Mac.
I set up shortcuts for Toggle Recording and Push to Talk in Sotto/Settings, but nothing happens when I use them.
Also, lots of settings for AI keys. I use Perplexity Pro, but am an AI amateur. What are AI keys, do I need them, and if so–how do I get them?
Thanks in advance.
GM
API keys not AI keys. Sorry.
I use AI API keys to access AI services, in my case, I have Voice Ink set up for local transcription. For cleanup services, I can use the API key from Gemini or ChatGPT to access those services and clean up the texts.
My use of AI is fairly minimal, so paying for API access is much cheaper than paying for the standard ChatGPT monthly plan.
You can access cloud models on Sotto, so perhaps there are settings for the API keys for those cloud models.
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