Quickword.byFormula Won Labs
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00:00 · Mac

Mac · Install

A Mac dictation app that also runs on your Windows machine

Most Mac dictation apps stop at the Mac. If you also work on a PC, that means a second app, a second word list and a second history. Quickword is one app on both, and both are ready today, on Macs with an Apple chip and on Windows PCs.

Download for Mac (Apple chip)Compare with Superwhisper

00:14 · Install it

Download it and open it on a Mac with an Apple chip

The Mac download is version 0.2.4. It is produced by hand on a MacBook rather than by the pipeline that builds the Windows installer, so it can land a little after the Windows files do. Apple has not certified this build, so macOS stops you the first time you open it. The steps below are how you get past that, and it only happens once.

  1. 01Download the file from the button above.
  2. 02Open the .dmg and drag Quickword into Applications.
  3. 03Open it once by right-clicking the app and choosing Open, then Open again in the dialog. macOS says the developer cannot be verified, and that dialog has an Open button on it that a normal double-click does not give you.
  4. 04Allow it to use your microphone, then allow Accessibility, when macOS asks. The shortcut does not work everywhere without Accessibility.

Apple has not certified the Mac build, in the same way Microsoft has not certified the Windows one. macOS says the developer cannot be verified on first open, and the two ways past that are to right-click the app and choose Open once, or to run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Quickword.app in Terminal. Both are documented in the repository's own Mac setup notes.

This download is for Macs with an Apple chip (2020 and newer). The version for older Intel Macs is not published yet, and the form below is how you hear about it.

Your address is stored to send that one email. It is not sold and not added to a newsletter.

Download for Mac (Apple chip)Download for Windows too

00:29 · The two-machine problem

Why Mac-first tools leave half your day uncovered

Apple's own dictation is free and it stops after about 30 seconds, has no custom vocabulary, and does not learn from your corrections. The paid Mac apps fix those things and stay on the Mac. Superwhisper's own public feedback board has cross-device sync as its most requested item, with Android second. If your work is split between a MacBook and a PC, that gap is your whole afternoon.

  • The same shortcut, the same word list and the same behaviour on the Mac and on Windows.
  • Neither machine sends anything you say anywhere.
  • One history across both machines once Quickword Pro is on, including redoing a failed dictation from the other machine.

00:44 · On your Mac

How much of it happens on your Mac

You pick how Quickword listens. There is a faster option and a more accurate one, and on an older Mac the light option is the one to start with. All of them run on your own Mac, so nothing you say leaves it.

This half of Quickword is unchanged from the project it is built on. Built on Handy by CJ Pais, MIT.

01:03 · macOS specifics

Permissions and the first launch

  • Apple has not certified this build, so macOS blocks the first open. The two ways past it are in the steps above.
  • Accessibility permission is required for the shortcut to work anywhere, and macOS will ask for it.
  • Microphone permission is required to record.
  • On a Mac, Quickword cannot yet tell which app you are typing into, so it cannot match its tone to an email versus a chat message the way it does on Windows.

01:24 · FAQ

Can I download Quickword for Mac today?

Yes. The download for Macs with an Apple chip is live, it is version 0.2.4, and the button above points at it. It is free and there is no account. The version for older Intel Macs is not published yet.

How is this different from Apple's built-in dictation?

Apple's dictation stops after about 30 seconds, has no custom vocabulary, and starts and stops on a tap rather than while you hold a key. Quickword records as long as you hold the key, cuts the ums, adds punctuation, and lets you add words it must spell your way.

Is there an iPhone app?

No, and one is not planned. The phone work is an Android version that is still an early test version.

Does it need Apple's certification to run?

It runs without it, but macOS will block the first launch and you have to allow it once in Privacy and Security. Getting Apple to certify a build needs a paid developer account, which is not in place yet.

Does it run on an older Intel Mac?

Not from a download yet. The Intel version is possible and nobody has built it yet, so the only Mac download today is for Apple chips. There is a form above to hear about the Intel one, and the light voice option is the one to pick on older hardware when it lands.