The help pages
When the panel
doesn't go as drawn.
Most answers are on this page. For everything else, a real person reads every message and we aim to reply within one business day.
Getting started
From checkout to first dictation.
- 1
Subscribe on the pricing page. Checkout runs through Stripe; there's one plan, $8/month.
- 2
Check your email. Right after checkout you get the download link and a link that activates the app, sent to the address you paid with.
- 3
Install. Open the DMG, drag Dictate to Applications, launch it. It lives in the menu bar. (Lost the link? It's also at /download.)
- 4
Activate. Choose Activate this Mac from the menu bar and enter the email you subscribed with. Then grant Microphone and Accessibility, hold the key, and talk.
Activation problems
The app won't activate.
Wrong email
Activation only works with the address you subscribed with, the one on your Stripe receipt. A work address at checkout and a personal one in the app won't match. Enter the paying address.
The link isn't arriving
Check spam first: activation mail sometimes lands there. Then request a fresh link: choose Activate this Mac… from Dictate's menu bar icon again and re-enter your address. Each request sends a new email.
Still stuck
Use the form below with the topic “I can't activate” and include the email you paid with.
Permissions
Two permissions. Here's what each does.
Microphone
Records your voice while the key is held. Nothing records without it. Grant it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and switch Dictate on.
Accessibility
Lets Dictate place text at your cursor through the Accessibility API. Grant it in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
Without Accessibility there's no auto-insert: Dictate still transcribes, but the result goes to your clipboard for you to paste yourself. Those two are the only permissions the app ever asks for: no screen recording, no full-disk access.
Dictating
Hold, talk, release.
Dictate is push-to-talk: hold the hotkey ⌥ by default, speak, and let go. The text lands in whatever field your cursor was in.
Changing the hotkey
Settings → Shortcut in the app. Any key you like.
Polish
An optional pass that drops filler words and fixes punctuation before the text is inserted. Switch it on or off in Settings. It's unlimited either way.
Glossary
Teach it your project's words (names, jargon, product terms) and they come out spelled right every time. Managed in Settings and synced across your Macs.
Usage & billing
The allowance, the money, the exit.
40 hours a month, shared
The plan includes 40 hours of transcription a month, shared across every Mac you've activated with the same email. If you ever run through it, dictation pauses until your month resets. It never rolls into a surprise charge.
Managing or cancelling
Sign in at dictates.app/account to see your subscription and open the billing portal, where you can update your card or cancel any time. The same portal is reachable in the app under Settings. Cancelling stops the next charge; you keep access until the end of what you've paid for.
Refunds
Subscribed and changed your mind before using it? The month is refunded in full. Once you've transcribed something, the month is committed. The full policy is at /refunds.
Troubleshooting
When the text doesn't land.
It records, but nothing is inserted
Grant Accessibility permission (see Permissions). If you'd rather not, that's fine. Dictate falls back to clipboard-only mode and you paste the result yourself. And some apps don't expose editable fields cleanly, so a paste fallback is expected there even with Accessibility granted.
It says I'm not signed in, or missing an entitlement
This Mac isn't activated against your subscription yet. Choose Activate this Mac from the menu bar, enter the email you subscribed with, and open the link that lands in your inbox, checking spam if it's shy.
Write to the editors.
A real person reads every message. We aim to reply within one business day, and we'd rather fix your problem than close your ticket.
Prefer email?
Write to support@dictates.app. It reaches the same inbox as the form.
Security issues
Report vulnerabilities to security@dictates.app rather than through the form. See the security page.