Fact · Dictation in your apps
Apple's developer note says a process should never enable secure event input for general text input, and should turn it on only when it is needed.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“A process should never enable secure event input for general text input or just enable this function for the life of the application.”
Technical Note TN2150: Using Secure Event Input Fairly, Apple Developer Documentation, Apple Developer Documentation Archive, n.d., Summary.
Open the original- What it measures
- Secure event input is a macOS mode that stops keyboard-intercepting processes from seeing keystrokes while a protected field, such as a password box, has focus. Apple's note is written for app developers who build their own protected entry fields.
- What it does not show
- The note is archived and no longer updated. It explains why a secure field can behave differently from an ordinary field, but it does not say which dictation tools are blocked in which fields. We did not test password fields in this guide.