1
Open setup
Launch Acousmos from the menu bar. If setup is incomplete, open Preferences and use Run Setup Again.
User guide
Speak once. Let Acousmos write where your cursor already is.
Set up permissions once, choose your input style, then use a hotkey to dictate, translate, or edit text inside the app you are already using.
Quick start
From install to first sentence.
2
Grant permissions
Allow Microphone so Acousmos can listen, and Accessibility so it can type the finished text into the focused app.
3
Choose a style
Shape is the default: say it any way, it comes out organized, still in your voice. Minimal-Translate converts speech into your target language.
4
Press, speak, release
Put your cursor in any text field, press the style's hotkey, speak naturally, then stop recording. Acousmos types the result.
Permissions
Why macOS asks for access.
These prompts are normal for a global voice input app. Acousmos needs enough access to hear you and place text back into the active app. Full permissions guide
Microphone
Required for recording your voice.
Accessibility
Lets Acousmos type into the focused editor, browser, chat app, or notes app.
Input Monitoring
Only needed if macOS asks while using bare-key or push-to-talk hotkeys such as Fn, Right Command, or Right Option.
Modes
Input, translation, and editing styles.
Each style can have its own hotkey. The app defaults to a daily input style and a translation style, and you can change both in Preferences. The six below are the everyday core — the app also includes further built-in styles such as Shape-Translate for freer, more natural translation and Coding for dictating to AI coding tools, and you can add custom styles with your own prompt.
Input
Shape
The default. Say it any way — rambling, out of order, self-correcting. It comes out organized and complete, still in your voice. Lists appear only when you clearly enumerate.
Default hotkey: Right Command.
Input
Minimal
Fixes obvious speech-recognition errors only, keeping your phrasing intact. For when the words should stay exactly yours.
Input
Verbatim
No AI pass. Exactly what the speech engine heard.
Input
Formal
Organized and dressed up: formal register, clean structure. Ready to send — emails, docs, announcements.
Translation
Minimal-Translate
Translates faithfully into your target language while preserving your original structure as much as possible.
Default hotkey: Right Option.
Edit
Edit
Use your speech as an instruction, such as "make this shorter" or "translate this paragraph".
Translation
Set the target language once.
Open Preferences, go to Language, and pick the Translation target from the built-in list, or choose Other… to enter any ISO code. Minimal-Translate and Shape-Translate will use that language when they turn speech into text. Full translation guide
English
中文
日本語
Español
Other…
Source
Speak in Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, or another source language.
Target
Acousmos uses the target language you set in Preferences.
Output
Translated text is inserted at the cursor in the active app.
Preferences
Where to change behavior.
Setup Check
Check Microphone, Accessibility, the speech and AI engines, and enabled hotkeys before your first real use.
Hotkeys
Assign separate keys for input, translation, or custom styles. Modifier-only hotkeys can work as tap or push-to-talk.
Language
Control source-language detection and the target language used by translation styles.
Providers
Choose local or cloud engines for transcription and AI polish, depending on your privacy and quality needs.
Nothing appears
Click into a text field first, then check Accessibility permission in System Settings.
No audio is captured
Check Microphone permission and make sure the selected input device is receiving sound.
The hotkey does not fire
Confirm the style has an enabled hotkey. For push-to-talk keys, approve Input Monitoring if macOS asks.
First use feels slow
Local transcription or polish models may need to download before the first run completes.
Names or terms are wrong
Add important vocabulary, recurring phrases, or replacements in Preferences so Acousmos can preserve them.
You need setup again
Open Preferences and choose Run Setup Again. The in-app Open Preferences Guide button points back to this page.
Ready
Use your voice anywhere you can type.
Acousmos runs from the menu bar, keeps a local archive on your Mac, and lets you decide how much AI processing to apply.
Download for Mac