LocalTalk

A minimal macOS menubar app for local, private speech-to-text dictation.

Hold a key, speak, release — your words appear wherever the cursor is. No cloud, no subscription, no data leaving your machine.

How it works

• Hold trigger key → microphone starts recording (in memory, no files written to disk)
• Release → WhisperKit transcribes on-device
• Transcribed text is typed at your cursor via the clipboard

The Whisper small.en model (~150 MB) downloads automatically on first launch and is cached locally.

Quick start (pre-built)

1. Download LocalTalk.dmg from the releases page
2. Open the DMG, drag LocalTalk into Applications
3. Launch it from Applications
4. Grant Accessibility and Microphone permissions when prompted
5. The mic icon appears in your menubar — you're ready

The app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it should open without Gatekeeper warnings. Updates install automatically through Sparkle (verified with an EdDSA signature) — when a new version is available, you'll see a prompt with a "Install and Relaunch" button.

Build from source

Requirements: macOS 14+, Xcode command line tools, Swift 5.9+

git clone https://github.com/rusackas/localtalk
cd localtalk
make run        # builds, bundles, and launches

Or build a distributable DMG:

make dmg        # produces LocalTalk.dmg

Settings

Click the menubar icon → Settings… (or press ⌘,) to:

• Change trigger key — default is fn/Globe; also supports Right Option (⌥) or Right Control (⌃)
• View usage stats — total time recorded and characters typed
• Reset stats — clears the counters

Permissions

Permission	Why
Accessibility	Detect the trigger key and type text at the cursor
Microphone	Record your voice while the trigger key is held

Both are requested on first launch. If you accidentally deny one, open System Settings → Privacy & Security to re-enable.

Menubar icons

Icon	State
Spinner	Loading / downloading Whisper model
Mic	Ready
Mic (red, filled)	Recording
Waveform (orange)	Transcribing
Warning triangle	Error — check Accessibility/Mic permissions

Notes

• Suppresses the trigger key so macOS Dictation / Globe menu doesn't interfere
• Audio is captured in memory — no temporary files are written to disk
• Clipboard is saved and restored after each injection
• Works in any app that supports paste (text editors, terminals, browsers, messaging apps, etc.)