Get the most out of Lispr.

Try one sentence

Open a note and place the cursor in a text field. Hold your configured dictation key, say a sentence, then release it. Keep the cursor in that field while Lispr prepares the text.

On Windows, allow desktop apps to use your microphone in Windows Settings. Open the Lispr icon in the notification area to check your microphone and dictation key. The macOS permissions below apply only to Mac.

1. Microphone

Lispr needs to hear you. macOS will prompt the first time; if you missed the prompt or revoked the permission, grant it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone: toggle Lispr on.

2. Accessibility

Lispr inserts the recognized text where your cursor is: that requires the Accessibility permission. Grant it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility , toggle Lispr on.

3. Input Monitoring (optional)

Lispr doesn't need it: the Accessibility permission above already lets it see the trigger key from any app. macOS may still list Lispr under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Input Monitoring: granting or skipping it changes nothing.

Push to talk

Hold the dictation key shown in your Lispr menu, speak, then release it. You can choose another key in that menu. Start in a note or a draft message with the cursor already in the text field.

Latched (hands-free) mode

Double-tap the trigger key and Lispr keeps recording until you tap again. Useful when you need both hands free.

Cancel mid-recording

Press Esc while recording to drop it: nothing is inserted and no text comes back. Audio is streamed as you speak, so part of it may already have reached the transcription proxy; it isn't stored there.

Alternative trigger keys

If right ⌥ is taken by another shortcut on your Mac, pick a different trigger from the menu-bar icon: ⌥, ⌃, ⌘, ⇧ or Fn, and for the two-sided keys, left, right or either. You can also hold the 🎤 key or a function key from F1 to F20: choose “Other key…” in the same menu and press the key. On a Mac keyboard, hold Fn for F1–F12.

Languages

Lispr transcribes via Whisper, which is multilingual. The language is detected automatically: you can even switch mid-sentence and it follows. About 99 languages are recognised, no setup required.

Smart sentence joining

If you dictate one phrase, then dictate again right after, Lispr inserts a period and a space between them: no run-on sentences. It only auto-joins after its own previous insertion, so it doesn't touch text you typed yourself.

Clipboard

Lispr uses the clipboard internally to insert text, but it restores whatever you had copied immediately afterwards. Your ⌘V still gives back the link or paragraph you copied an hour ago.

Updates

Lispr auto-updates via Sparkle: when a new release is signed, your installed Lispr offers it the next time the app launches. See the changelog for what changed in each version.

Open Vocabulary in the Lispr menu. Add a name, company or specialist term in the spelling you want to use. Then dictate a short sentence containing it in a note.

For example, add “Codebridge” before dictating a message about a Codebridge meeting. Vocabulary helps recognition with unfamiliar words; check the result, especially for names.

There is a longer walkthrough in Teach Lispr your words on the blog.

Open Translation in the Lispr menu and choose a target language for a translation slot. Check the extra key shown for that slot; there are two slots for different target languages.

Start dictation with your usual key. While speaking, also hold the translation slot key, and keep both held until you finish. Release them to get text in the chosen target language. The language indicator during recording shows the active target.

Try a short message in your own language with English as the target. On your next dictation, use only the main key when you want the original language. Choosing a translation slot does not permanently change your dictation language.

For the full picture, read Hold one key to dictate, two keys to translate on the blog.

Open Formatting in the Lispr menu. Light mode adds punctuation, paragraphs and lists. Concise also removes filler and repetition. This setting stays selected until you change it; choose Off for ordinary dictation.

Try Light with a short meeting note: the decision, the person responsible and the next step. Read the result before sending it. Formatting can change wording, and access depends on your current plan and allowance.

Check your current access and limits in your Lispr account.

The trigger key doesn't do anything

• Check that Accessibility is granted (step 2 above): without it Lispr can't see the key press or type into other apps.
• Make sure no other app is grabbing right ⌥: Karabiner, BetterTouchTool, Raycast hotkeys, Magnet etc. If so, switch Lispr to Fn from the menu-bar icon.

"We didn't catch that"

Lispr filters very short and silent recordings (since 0.39), so an accidental tap doesn't turn into random text. If you get this and you did speak: hold the key a moment longer before talking, and check that the right microphone is picked in the menu.

Text ends up in the wrong app

Lispr inserts at whatever cursor is focused when you release the trigger key. If you switched apps mid-recording, the text goes to the new app. Tip: keep your cursor in the destination before holding the key.

The menu-bar icon is missing

• On macOS 11-12 specifically, an earlier build (≤ 0.24) could lose the icon: update to the latest from the changelog page; this was fixed in 0.25.
• If you're on a recent macOS and still don't see it: your menu bar might be full and the icon is hidden under Control Center / Bartender. Try widening the menu bar by hiding a few icons.

Transcription timeout

If your network blips mid-upload, Lispr gives up after about 20 seconds without a word from the server and tells you, instead of spinning forever. Try again: the next attempt goes out on a fresh connection and usually succeeds.

Sparkle can't fetch the update

The DMG and appcast are served from proxy.lispr.ai over a TCP-only path (since 0.39): this bypasses HTTP/3 issues some networks have. If your network still blocks it, you can always download the latest DMG directly from lispr.ai and replace the app manually.

Very long recordings

Lispr auto-stops a single recording after two hours. Nothing is thrown away: it finishes like a normal key release and transcribes what you said.

Where does my voice go?

From your Mac it goes over an encrypted connection to an edge proxy we run, which forwards it to the transcription provider. The provider returns the text, the proxy returns it to your Mac, and the audio is discarded immediately. By default no recording is kept on a server and none of it trains a model: the exceptions are the two sharing settings in the app, both off until you switch them on.

Is there an account?

Not required. You can download Lispr and dictate without signing up for anything. There is an optional account for paid plans: you sign in with a one-time email code, and there's still no password or profile.

What about logs?

Lispr sends diagnostic X-Lispr-* headers with each transcription request: timings, error codes and a random per-install id, never audio or transcripts. We keep the resulting counters to see what breaks, and you can switch the whole thing off in the menu. Even with all of it off, each transcription request still carries what counting your minutes needs: a random billing ID and, from Mac 1.32 and Windows 0.2.77, a random ID of that dictation, so that a dictation resent after a dropped connection is not counted twice.

Does it work offline?

No: transcription runs in the cloud, which is why it's both fast (about 0.35 s median from key release to text at your cursor) and accurate. If you need fully-local dictation, macOS's built-in Dictation is a fine alternative; that's the trade-off we made.