Dictation that works offline
Dictation keeps working when you’re offline. Nothing leaves your Mac while you are, there’s nothing to set up, and it works on a plane.
How it works
- Talk like you talk.Ums, restarts, “eight” for 8. Say it the way it comes out; you don’t have to speak like a robot.
- It cleans up as you go.Fillers drop out, numbers and names come out right, and the punctuation lands where you’d put it.
- It lands where you’re typing.Mail, Slack, your editor, a browser tab: whatever had the cursor gets the finished words.
- To
- Priya Nair
- Subject
- Re: Friday review
All of this still works with the Wi-Fi off.
What works without the internet
| Offline? | |
|---|---|
| Dictation in English | Works |
| Fillers, numbers, lists, “new line”, “scratch that” | Works |
| Names from your screen, learned words, per-app style | Works |
| Dictation in other languages | Needs internet |
| Rewriting a selection by voice (⌃⌘E) | Needs internet |
| Narration, gist or word for word | Needs internet |
| Coding agents reading back | Needs internet |
| Meetings | Needs internet |
Nothing to set up
Install Wisper Back
Open it once and sign in. It gets itself ready in the background.
Dictate as usual
Hold fn and speak.
Go offline
Turn the Wi-Fi off and keep dictating. Nothing to switch.
It switches by itself
Lose the connection mid-sentence and dictation carries on. When you’re back online, Pro and Author go back to the best accuracy on their own.
Other apps that dictate offline
You have options. Superwhisper and VoiceInk run local models, and the dictation built into macOS can run on your device (Keyboard settings tell you when it does). Wispr Flow is cloud-only; on desktop it saves your audio and transcribes it when you’re back online. All of them, compared.
Questions
Does any audio leave my Mac?
Not while you’re offline. Online, audio may be sent to be transcribed; the privacy policy has the details.
Is it as accurate offline?
Online, you get every language, and Pro and Author get our best accuracy. Offline, English dictation keeps going, so you never lose a thought.
Is offline dictation free?
Yes. Dictation is on the Free plan.
Why doesn’t narration work offline?
The gist is written online before it’s spoken. Dictation is the part that keeps working offline.
Which Macs does it run on?
Macs with Apple silicon (M1 or later) on macOS 14 or newer. There is no Windows, iPhone or Android app.
Sources
Prices change; tell us at support@composer1.com if one is out of date.
Nothing listens
until you hold fn.
Hold it. That’s the only way the mic turns on.
- The microphone opens only while you talk or record a meeting.
- Your history stays on your Mac.
- What you send to be read aloud isn’t kept.
Free to start. Mac with Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later.