Presspeech for MAC
Free, open-source push-to-talk dictation for Apple Silicon Macs: hold a key, speak, and your words appear at the cursor, transcribed on your Mac.
Presspeech Overview
Presspeech is a free, open-source dictation app for Apple Silicon Macs. Hold a key, speak, let go, and your words appear at the cursor in whatever app you were typing in. Speech recognition runs entirely on your computer: Presspeech uses NVIDIA's multilingual Parakeet TDT v3 model through FluidAudio on the Apple Neural Engine, and once the model is warm a typical sentence is transcribed in about a tenth of a second. It recognises 25 European languages and detects the language automatically.
There is no cloud transcription, no account and no subscription. Audio stays in memory and is discarded after transcription, and transcripts are not logged. Presspeech is a small menu bar app made by Richard Courtman and released under the MIT license; the Mac build is signed and notarised by Apple. It needs an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer) with macOS 14 or later; Intel Macs are not supported. On first setup it downloads the speech model, about 500–600 MB, and a clean install asks before that download starts. Version 0.3.11 improves permission recovery and model switching and makes English text cleanup an explicit option. Presspeech focuses on word-for-word dictation; it does not rewrite text with AI or take meeting notes.
Key Features
Presspeech turns your voice into typed text without sending it anywhere.
- Push to talk: hold a key, speak, release, and the text lands at the cursor.
- On-device recognition: Parakeet TDT v3 on the Apple Neural Engine.
- Fast: about a tenth of a second for a typical sentence once warm.
- 25 European languages: the spoken language is detected automatically.
- Private: no cloud path, no account, audio discarded after use.
- Safe pasting: skips automatic paste if you switched to another window.
- Your way: hold-to-talk or press-to-toggle, with any hotkey.
- Text tools: correction rules, text shortcuts, spoken formatting and filler-word removal.
What’s New in Version 0.3.11
Presspeech 0.3.11 improves permission recovery and model switching.
- Required permissions are checked again after setup, and Setup Checklist guides you back if a permission was removed
- A selected speech model now has its own download approval, and the previous model is kept if the new one cannot be downloaded or loaded
- A new "My dictation is in English" option, off by default, turns on English filler-word cleanup and British spelling
- Microphone restarts during startup are handled more reliably
Presspeech FAQ
Is Presspeech free?
Yes. Presspeech is free and open source under the MIT license, with no account and no subscription.
How do I dictate with Presspeech?
Hold your dictation key, speak, and release it. The transcript is pasted at the cursor in the app you were using. You can also switch to press-to-toggle and pick any hotkey.
Does Presspeech send my voice to the cloud?
No. Speech recognition runs on your Mac and there is no cloud transcription. Audio is kept in memory and discarded after transcription, and transcripts are not logged. The internet is only needed to download the speech model.
Does Presspeech work on Intel Macs?
No. It needs an Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer) with macOS 14 or later. Intel Macs are not supported.
How big is the download?
The app itself is a 9.3 MB zip. On first setup it downloads the speech model, about 500–600 MB. A clean install asks before starting that download, and you can choose Set Up Later.
Which languages does Presspeech understand?
It recognises 25 European languages and detects the spoken language automatically, using NVIDIA's multilingual Parakeet TDT v3 model.
What happens if I switch windows while dictating?
If you switch windows or Presspeech cannot confirm the original destination, it skips automatic paste so the text does not land in the wrong place. You can then paste it from the clipboard. It cannot always detect a move to another field or tab in the same window.
Can Presspeech rewrite my text with AI?
No. Presspeech does word-for-word dictation. It offers local correction rules, text shortcuts, spoken formatting and filler-word removal, but no AI rewriting or meeting notes.
Is Presspeech signed by Apple?
Yes. The Mac release is Developer ID signed and notarised by Apple. It can also be installed with Homebrew from the developer's own tap: brew install --cask rcourtman/presspeech/presspeech.
Where does the Presspeech download on presspeech.FULLMAC.app come from?
The download button leads to the official Presspeech macOS install page at https://rcourtman.github.io/presspeech/install.html. presspeech.FULLMAC.app does not change or repackage the app.
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FULLMAC.app does not host this app. Download buttons lead to the developer’s own pages.