February 10, 20265 min read

    Set Up Whisperer in 5 Minutes — Quick Start Guide

    Whisperer is an offline dictation app for Mac. You hold a key, speak, release, and text appears in whatever field is focused. No cloud, no account, no subscription.

    Here's how to go from download to your first dictation in under five minutes.

    Ready to try voice dictation on your Mac?

    Free download. No account required. 100% offline.

    Download on the Mac App Store

    Initial Setup#

    1

    Download from the Mac App Store

    Whisperer is a free download. Search "Whisperer Voice to Text" in the App Store, or use the link above. No account creation or sign-up required.

    2

    Grant Accessibility permission

    When you first launch Whisperer, macOS will prompt for Accessibility access. This is required so Whisperer can insert text into other apps.

    Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility and toggle Whisperer on.

    3

    Grant Input Monitoring permission

    Whisperer also needs Input Monitoring to detect your keyboard shortcut (Fn key) globally, even when other apps are focused.

    Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Input Monitoring and toggle Whisperer on.

    4

    Download a Whisper model

    Open Whisperer from your menu bar and go to Settings. You'll see a list of available Whisper models. Download one to get started.

    5

    Hold Fn and speak

    Click into any text field — a note, a message, a code editor — hold the Fn key, speak naturally, then release. Your words appear as text in the focused field.

    Tip

    Which model should you pick? Start with Turbo — it's fast and accurate for most use cases. If you need maximum accuracy for technical vocabulary or accented speech, try Large V3. You can switch models anytime in Settings.

    That's it. You're dictating.

    Here's what the full Whisperer workspace looks like once you're set up:

    Whisperer
    Workspace
    RECORDINGS
    487
    WORDS
    9.4K
    AVG WPM
    131
    DAYS
    14
    Whisperer v1.1 (4)
    AI
    Alexander
    Good morning
    Search transcriptions...⌘K
    AllPinnedFlagged
    Today
    9:09 AM0:18

    We need premium feel premium feel and look like really premium like the high level UI UX so basically we need it to be Prefect UI UX high level of CEO and also animations look the guidance below

    120 wpm38 wordsEnglish
    9:07 AM0:02

    Validate the build

    89 wpm3 wordsEnglish
    9:05 AM0:11

    Analyze the below suggestion and pending changes we made. We fixed a lot of stuff, added a lot of stuff, so I want to verify what is left based on the suggestion report below.

    183 wpm34 wordsEnglish

    Your First Dictation#

    Try it now. Click into any text field on your Mac, hold Fn, and say something:

    You say

    The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

    OutputNatural Language
    The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

    Whisperer streams a live preview as you speak, so you can see the text forming in real time. When you release Fn, the final transcription is inserted into the focused field.

    Info

    Hold-to-talk means dictation is only active while you hold the key. Release and it stops. This gives you precise control — no accidental dictation of background conversations or thinking-out-loud moments.

    Enabling Code Mode (Pro Pack)#

    Code Mode is Whisperer's killer feature for developers. It's included in the Pro Pack ($14.99 one-time, no subscription).

    1

    Unlock the Pro Pack

    Open Whisperer from the menu bar, go to Settings, and purchase the Pro Pack via in-app purchase. It's a one-time payment — no subscription.

    2

    Enable Code Mode in a profile

    Go to Settings > Profiles. Create a new profile (or edit the default) and set the mode to Code Mode.

    3

    Assign it to your IDE

    Set the profile's app filter to your IDE — VS Code, Cursor, Terminal, or any other app. Code Mode activates automatically when that app is in focus.

    Now try dictating code:

    You say

    const camel case fetch user data equals async open paren close paren fat arrow open brace

    OutputTypeScript
    const fetchUserData = async () => {

    Code Mode understands casing commands (camelCase, snake_case, PascalCase, CONSTANT_CASE), symbol commands (parentheses, brackets, braces, arrows, semicolons), and disables autocorrect so your identifiers stay intact.

    Setting Up Per-App Profiles#

    Per-app profiles let Whisperer automatically switch dictation modes based on the active app. No manual toggling needed.

    You say

    Hey team, the deploy looks good. Let's ship it after lunch.

    OutputSlack (Natural Language)
    Hey team, the deploy looks good. Let's ship it after lunch.
    You say

    def snake case validate input open paren data colon dict close paren arrow bool colon

    OutputVS Code (Code Mode)
    def validate_input(data: dict) -> bool:

    Same voice, same shortcut — Whisperer detects which app is focused and applies the right profile automatically.

    To set this up:

    1. Go to Settings > Profiles
    2. Create a profile for each context (e.g., "IDE", "Chat", "Email")
    3. Set the mode (Code Mode or Natural Language) and assign an app filter
    4. Whisperer switches profiles automatically as you move between apps

    Tips & Tricks#

    Custom Shortcut

    Don't like Fn? Change the dictation shortcut in Settings. You can use any key combination — double-tap Fn, a function key, or a custom hotkey.

    Personal Dictionary

    Add technical terms, project names, and custom vocabulary to your personal dictionary. This improves recognition accuracy for domain-specific words that Whisper might not know. See our personal dictionary guide.

    Model Switching

    Keep multiple models downloaded for different situations. Use Turbo for quick casual dictation and switch to Large V3 when you need maximum accuracy for technical content.

    Streaming Preview

    Watch your text form in real time as you speak. The streaming preview shows a live transcription so you can catch errors before they're inserted.

    What's Next?#

    Now that you're set up, explore these guides to get the most out of Whisperer:

    Ready to try voice dictation on your Mac?

    Free download. No account required. 100% offline.

    Download on the Mac App Store

    Ready to ditch typing?

    Join developers and power users who dictate faster than they type. One-time purchase. No subscription. No cloud.

    Free trial included. Pro Pack $14.99 lifetime.