TypeWhisper/typewhisper-mac v1.8.0

on GitHub

TypeWhisper 1.8.0 is the stable 1.8 macOS release. It adds Premium speaker detection, lets paired iPhones transcribe on the Mac, brings managed settings for organizations, and is the first release on the Mac App Store.

Highlights

• Premium speaker detection shows who said what. Detection runs on the Mac. History plays recordings with a speaker-colored scrubber and can show the transcript as a conversation. Speakers can be renamed, merged, split, and reassigned, with undo. A new Speakers page in Settings transcribes dropped files with speakers and lists the people TypeWhisper knows by voice.
• iPhone and iPad (Premium): a paired iPhone running TypeWhisper for iOS 1.2 can transcribe with this Mac's models over the local network. With "Allow Writing with This Mac" turned on, it can also use the Mac's language models and workflows. Both are off by default. Pairing uses a six-digit code shown on both devices, and the connection is encrypted.
• Managed settings: administrators can configure TypeWhisper through macOS configuration profiles. They can restrict cloud transcription and text processing, limit providers and plugins, block plugin and model downloads, enforce a transcription or language model, and control updates, launch at login, setup, and optional prompts.
• TypeWhisper is now available on the Mac App Store. That edition ships the same version from the same commit as the direct download.
• History entries with saved audio can be re-transcribed with another engine, model, language, or workflow. The new result is shown next to the current text, and you decide which version to keep.
• The menu bar has quick selectors for microphone, spoken language, and model.
• Recorder transcriptions skip stretches without speech, so a quiet start to a call no longer produces invented text.
• The local API now requires the API token by default. See Compatibility and distribution below.

Dictation and shortcuts

• Opt-in microphone pre-roll keeps the last 500 ms of audio in memory, so words spoken right at the hotkey press are not cut off. It applies to non-Bluetooth inputs, and the macOS microphone indicator stays on while it is enabled.
• Direct download edition: when a dictation ends without a text field to paste into, the indicator shows "No text field detected" with an Insert button. Click into the field you want, then click Insert or press your Paste Last Transcription shortcut. The offer stays for 30 seconds, and hovering pauses it. The message for a text field that changed during dictation offers the same button.
• Chromium browsers, Electron apps, and other web content no longer trigger false "No text field detected" warnings. Each indicator message can be dismissed individually.
• The Paste Last Transcription shortcut now pastes when it uses the V key. When the focused field stays unchanged, it says "Text may not have been inserted" instead of "Text inserted".
• When a live transcription connection drops or stops returning text, TypeWhisper transcribes the full recording instead of inserting the partial preview.
• A cloud dictation no longer waits a minute on "Transcribing…" when the live preview was still sending audio at stop.
• If the selected engine is briefly unavailable, for example while a plugin updates, TypeWhisper uses another engine only until the selected one is back. Deleting the last model of a local engine keeps its plugin enabled and the engine selected. The Recorder and file transcription keep their engine through plugin updates.
• An auto-unloaded local model starts loading when recording starts, and the indicator shows "Loading model…" while it loads. Loaded Parakeet models and Apple Intelligence workflows are prewarmed at recording start.
• A dictation that contains only digital silence ends with a hint to check the mute or reconnect the headset. A Bluetooth input that starts silent is rebuilt once, and the indicator warns "No sound from the microphone. Is it muted?" during the recording.
• Audio ducking restores the output volume from before microphone startup, including on USB speakerphones and after cancellation.
• The menu bar shows the dictation shortcut, labels the meeting Recorder as "Start Recorder", and keeps the last dictation error with a "Fix in Settings…" entry. Errors appear even when the indicator is set to Never.
• With "Preserve clipboard content" off, dictations appear in clipboard history apps.
• Fixed double insertion in cmux, a leading space and lowercase first letter in Firefox composers, spaces before Japanese full-width punctuation, and stray spaces next to the kana prolonged sound mark.
• Typing and clicking no longer freeze system-wide when TypeWhisper stops responding. Also shipped in 1.7.1.

Recorder and meetings

• Recorder transcriptions send only the parts with speech to the engine, found with the sound classifier built into macOS. Times in the transcript and in speaker detection still match the recording. A recording without speech says so instead of returning a transcript.
• In a Recorder recording with microphone and system audio, speech from the microphone becomes the speaker "Me".
• Hovering over the recording indicator turns the red dot into a Stop button for the Recorder.
• Meeting automation can detect calls without a calendar event: Zoom and Teams microphone activity and recognized meeting links in the browser. It is off by default.
• Kontur Talk calls are detected in the app and in the browser. New Teams calls are detected through its helper processes.
• "Ask before recording events without other attendees" keeps automatic recording for meetings with other people and asks first for events nobody else is invited to. It is off by default.
• Saved Recorder transcripts can be sent to Webhook Notifications or Script Runner, with a separate, default-off option for each. Webhook and Script Runner 1.2.0 require TypeWhisper 1.8.0.
• WhisperKit retries failed audio chunks instead of returning a silently incomplete transcript.

Text handling and workflows

• Dictionary corrections can use regular expressions. Existing entries stay literal. Regex rules are kept in backups, sync, and the HTTP API, and syncing them requires the current Mac and Windows apps.
• Term pack entries use Precise Vocabulary Boosting, so words like "possible" or "notify" no longer turn into Ansible or Netlify. Changes to pack entries survive turning packs off and on and pack updates.
• When you add a Term while Parakeet is selected and Vocabulary Boosting is off, TypeWhisper offers to turn it on, including the one-time model download (about 100 MB).
• Learn from Corrections can wait until a correction was made 2, 3, or 5 times within 30 days. Changing one number into another is no longer learned as a correction.
• The Filler Words plugin removes "um", "ah", and "eh" only from English text, so "um 10 Uhr" keeps its preposition.
• An LLM reply that stopped at the output token limit counts as a failure instead of being inserted as partial text. A fallback list moves on to the next provider.

History, files, and sync

• Re-transcribe compares results side by side and keeps the original. Cloud providers are named, with a note that usage charges may apply, before anything is sent.
• File Transcription, watch folders, and the local API accept Opus files, such as WhatsApp voice messages, where macOS can decode them.
• Importing a backup onto the Mac it came from no longer duplicates history, workflows, profiles, or prompt actions. "Replace existing items" (typewhisper import --replace, mode=replace in the local API) overwrites items with the same name.
• Recovery lists every recording with its own Discard button. Preserved recovery recordings are stored as AAC instead of WAV.
• Sync settings list synced devices and let you remove them. Deletions now stick in Automatic iCloud Sync.

Settings, licensing, and administration

• Installed plugins have their own sidebar pages. Integrations becomes Discover plugins, and plugin updates appear in the plugin page header.
• A short, skippable "New in TypeWhisper" overview introduces selected features once per update on a normal launch. Dictation and other work take priority. It can be reopened from Settings > About.
• Settings > License follows the pricing page of the website. Individual and Team are sold monthly or as Lifetime. Enterprise is a subscription for up to 50 devices at 199 EUR per month or 1,990 EUR per year. It is no longer sold as Lifetime, and existing Enterprise Lifetime licenses keep working.
• Managed settings cover 18 keys. Settings > Advanced > Managed Settings shows what the organization manages, and locked controls say "Managed by your organization." See the managed settings guide. Example profiles, a profile generator, and Jamf Pro and ProfileManifests schemas are in the repository.

Local API, CLI, and automation

• typewhisper models load, unload, and delete manage local models from the command line. typewhisper transcribe - reads audio from stdin.
• GET and PATCH /v1/settings/audio read and change microphone priority, ducking, media pause, and sound feedback.
• New authenticated routes name speakers, enroll voices, and confirm voice profile suggestions. History entries return speaker segments, suggested names, and the Recorder recording_id. Transcription requests accept detect_speakers and speaker_count.
• GET /v1/recorder/recordings returns completed Recorder transcripts, also after a restart.
• /v1/llm/models, /v1/llm/process, /v1/workflows, and /v1/workflows/run process text with this Mac's language models and workflows without inserting it.
• Browser extensions can report the active tab through PUT /v1/browser/context, which lets website workflows match in browsers without AppleScript support and in the Mac App Store edition.
• verbose_json responses apply dictionary corrections to segment texts.

Models and integrations

• Parakeet Ultra is the default Parakeet model for new selections. Saved selections stay. Parakeet no longer writes a literal <unk>.
• Fluid Speech Mini joins the Parakeet plugin as a small English model with a 250 MB download.
• The new GigaAM plugin provides local Russian dictation with punctuation and capitalization. It runs on the CPU, downloads a 230 MB model on first use, and requires TypeWhisper 1.8.0.
• Cloud transcription plugins split long recordings into chunks below their provider's limits and wait longer for long jobs. These plugin releases require TypeWhisper 1.8.0; 1.7 keeps its compatible releases.
• Gemini offers Verbatim (the new default) and Smart transcription. Gemini Live finishes sooner after the hotkey is released, and a crash between Gemini Live dictations is fixed.
• The Claude plugin reads replies that start with a thinking block and adds reasoning effort, prompt caching, and clearer error messages.
• OpenAI Compatible profiles can upload WAV directly, and Batch profiles no longer upload audio for a live preview.
• Soniox sends its API key in the WebSocket authorization header ahead of Soniox's authentication change.
• Plain HTTP to Tailscale addresses and MagicDNS names is allowed, for example for LM Studio.
• Parakeet shows download progress, also in the setup wizard, and a model switch no longer waits for the previous model's boosting model.
• Fixed a crash after uninstalling a plugin and a crash in Local LLM settings while a model loads.
• Wrong and missing translations were fixed, and Japanese plugin wording was improved.

Accessibility

• The app and the bundled plugins' settings are labeled for VoiceOver. Buttons name their action and target, and status that was only shown by color, icon, or tooltip is spoken.
• Indicator feedback, recording start and stop, Recorder events, and errors are announced while VoiceOver runs.
• While recording, the menu bar icon becomes a filled badge, so the state no longer depends on color. A rejected undo during a recording is shown on the indicator, and copy, delete, and export actions confirm on screen.
• LLM fallback rows can be reordered with buttons. Dictionary, snippet, and file transcription cards open with the keyboard, and the workflow editor saves with Command-S and closes with Escape.
• With Reduce Motion, the recording dot no longer pulses and the indicator no longer pops in.

Compatibility and distribution

• Requires macOS 14.0 or later and supports Apple silicon and Intel Macs.
• Every direct download release includes the iCloud bridge. The Mac App Store edition uses its iCloud container directly.
• The Mac App Store edition ships the same version from the same commit. It is sandboxed, updates through the App Store, sells Premium through in-app purchase, and includes its plugins in the app. Sparkle updates, the CLI, license keys, correction learning, dictation undo, and the "No text field detected" Insert offer are direct download only. Speaker detection in the Mac App Store edition requires Apple silicon.
• The local API server now requires the API token by default. The CLI, the MCP server, and the Pi extension already send it. The Raycast extension needs its next update. A server that runs without a token during the update keeps doing so, and Settings warns until Require API Token is turned on. Settings > Advanced can copy the token. Regardless of the token setting, the server rejects requests that websites send through the browser.
• New plugin releases require TypeWhisper 1.7.0 or later. Plugin releases that use SDK features new in 1.8, such as Parakeet 1.4.0, GigaAM, Webhook and Script Runner 1.2.0, and the long-recording cloud plugins, require TypeWhisper 1.8.0.
• Built with Xcode 27.1.