Yap for Mac
Dictation for Mac that stays on your Mac.
Yap types what you say into any app. Place your cursor, hold Fn, speak and release: your words appear where you were typing. Recognition runs on your Mac, so your voice is never uploaded.
macOS, Apple Silicon · 142 MB. $6.90 USD/month or $69 USD/year. 3 days free with a free account, no card, then a 10-day trial with a card.
Hold, speak, release.
- 01
Hold Fn.
In any text field: an email, a chat, a note, your editor, a browser form. A small bar shows that you are recording.
- 02
Speak naturally.
For longer thoughts, press Space while holding Fn to keep recording hands-free, then press Fn again to finish. Esc cancels.
- 03
Release.
Your words are typed at the cursor, with punctuation. Your clipboard is not touched, and the text also stays in History.
Recognized on your Mac
25 languages, no setup.
Yap recognizes speech on your Mac. Its speech models download once, about 1.4 GB, during setup, as soon as you allow the microphone and Accessibility. After that, recognition works without a connection while your access is valid.
You don’t have to choose a language. Each recording is heard in the language you speak: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek, and Maltese. On macOS 14 or later these run on Yap’s upgraded engine; older Macs use compatible local recognition.
Your recordings are not uploaded. Where the text goes matters too: an email or chat app may sync it through its own service. Read our privacy policy.
Already on your Mac
Apple Dictation or Yap?
Apple Dictation
- Free and built into macOS. Turn it on in System Settings → Keyboard, then press the Microphone key or your Dictation shortcut.
- Keyboard settings show whether your speech is processed on your Mac or sent to Apple’s Siri servers.
- Dictates in the language you select; you switch it yourself.
- Stops by itself after 30 seconds without speech.
Source: Apple, Dictate messages and documents on Mac.
Yap
- Free for 3 days with a free account and no card, then paid after a 10-day trial. Hold Fn while you talk; release and the words are typed.
- Recognition runs on your Mac. Your voice is not sent to a speech service.
- 25 languages, recognized per recording with no language switching.
- Every result is kept in a private History on your Mac.
If Apple Dictation does what you need, it may be all you need: how to set it up and when an app is worth it. Yap is for people who want fast, private dictation into the apps they already use, in any of its languages without switching.
Types only where you meant it to.
Yap types into the app that was in front when you started, and keeps your words in History when it cannot type them, so nothing you said is lost.
Updates you can trust.
Yap keeps itself up to date. This release is Developer ID-signed and Apple-notarized.
Install.
Unzip the download and open the app. It installs itself in Applications and reopens, ready for setup and automatic updates. If macOS asks for permission to install, approve it. Managed Macs may need an administrator’s approval.
Allow the microphone and Accessibility.
Setup asks for both: the microphone to hear you, Accessibility to type into other apps. The speech models start downloading as soon as you allow them.
Say your first sentence.
Place your cursor in a note, hold Fn, speak and release.
Keep going.
Sign in with your email and the code we send you: your 3 free days start, no card. To keep dictating after that, choose Start trial in Yap. See plans and pricing.
Questions.
- Which Macs does Yap run on?
- Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 13 or later. There is no Intel Mac version.
- Is my voice uploaded?
- No. Recognition runs on your Mac and your audio is not uploaded to a transcription service. Finished text is kept in Yap’s local History, where you can copy or delete it. The internet is needed to download the app and the speech model, to start your free days or your trial, and for periodic access checks.
- Does it work offline?
- Yes, once the speech model has downloaded, during your free days, trial or subscription. Offline access lasts up to 24 hours after a successful check, never beyond your free days, trial or paid period.
- Which languages does it understand?
- English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek, and Maltese. You do not pick one: each recording is recognized in the language you speak.
- Why does Yap ask for Accessibility access?
- To type your words into the app you are using. macOS lets an app type into other apps only with Accessibility access. Yap types only into the app that was in front when you started, and your clipboard is not touched.
- Is Yap on the Mac App Store?
- Yes, as Yap: Dictation & Voice to Text. The App Store version runs in Apple’s sandbox, so it copies your words for you to paste with ⌘V instead of typing them, and you subscribe with your Apple ID. The download from this site types into any app and keeps itself up to date.
- Can I get Yap on Setapp?
- Yes. Setapp sells Yap for Mac on its own, at the same monthly and yearly prices. The Setapp version types into any app like the download and you pay through Setapp. It covers Macs only, while a subscription here also covers Windows, iPhone and Android.
- Can I use one subscription on a Mac and a PC?
- Yes. Your trial or subscription covers every computer you connect to your account, Mac or Windows.
Apple Dictation not working? Fixes by symptom. Looking for Dragon on a Mac? What replaced it.
From the library
Mac Dictation: How to Dictate and Control a Mac by Voice
Every Mac has free, built-in Dictation: turn it on once in System Settings > Keyboard, press the Microphone key or your shortcut in any text field and speak, and on Apple silicon Macs 48 of its 63 language variants can be processed on the Mac itself. Voice Control adds hands-free commands for the whole computer. When dictation fails, the cause is one of five things: the shortcut, the microphone, the language, Voice Control or the app you are typing in; when you need long, specialist or AI-formatted text, a dedicated Mac dictation app is the next step.