MalibuDictateHold a key.
Speak. Text appears.
MalibuDictate turns speech into text in any app. Hold a key, speak, and the text is pasted where your cursor is. You get it as transcribed, or rewritten by Claude, or by Apple Intelligence on your Mac. It also takes meeting notes, a transcript with a summary. That part is in beta.
Illustration of the workflow, not a screenshot.
Four steps
From first launch to text at your cursor.
Set up once
On first launch, enter your email address and click Start Trial, then allow Microphone and Accessibility. Keep the default engine, Parakeet TDT, and wait until Status shows Ready.
Hold a key and speak
By default right Command inserts the transcript, right Option rewrites it with the profile of the active app, and right Control rewrites what is on your clipboard by your spoken instruction. An indicator shows that it is recording.
Release the key
The text is transcribed, then cleaned on your Mac in a fixed order: dictionary, filler words, spoken punctuation, snippets, smart formatting. The Claude key hands the result to the rewrite after that.
Text lands at the cursor
It is pasted with a simulated Cmd+V into the focused field, and by default your previous clipboard is restored right after. In a password field nothing is pasted; the text stays on the clipboard.
What's inside
What the current version (0.10.8) actually does.
Three keys, three modes
Dictation Keys (Raw) insert the transcript without a rewrite. Dictation Keys (Claude) rewrite it with the profile assigned to the active app. Clipboard Rewrite Keys rewrite the text on your clipboard by what you say, for example “make this more formal”. You can change or add keys under Keys: function keys, the right Command, Option, Shift and Control keys, fn (Globe) and Caps Lock.
Four speech engines
Parakeet TDT (the default), WhisperKit (Large v3 Turbo), Apple SpeechAnalyzer (macOS 26 or later) and Nemotron 3.5 (Streaming), which is for English only. The Language menu offers Auto-Detect or one of 18 languages. A profile can use a different engine for its apps.
Rewrite with Claude or on your Mac
Claude (Cloud) uses your own API key and a model you pick; Sonnet 5 is the default. Local (Apple Intelligence) runs on your Mac and needs no key. Local is marked experimental in the app.
Writing profiles
A profile holds a rewrite prompt and the apps assigned to it. Optional: trigger words to switch profile by voice, and clipboard or window title as context. Profiles apply to the Claude key, not to the clipboard rewrite.
Dictionary and snippets
Corrections replace misheard words, whole words only, in every app or only in assigned apps. Snippets expand a spoken trigger into text, with placeholders such as {{DATE}}. Both also apply to raw dictation.
Vocabulary
Terms the rewrite is told to spell exactly as written. No effect on raw dictation; use a dictionary correction there. Claude meeting summaries get the terms too.
Record without holding the key (optional)
Off by default. Switch on Double-Tap to Keep Recording under Keys, then tap a dictation key twice to record without holding it. Tap once more to finish, or press Esc to discard.
What happens to the clipboard
With Keep Dictation on Clipboard under General, the dictated text stays on the clipboard for 3, 5, 10 or 30 seconds, or forever, before your previous clipboard comes back. The default is Off: restored right after pasting.
Meeting mode
Off until you enable it. Records your microphone as You and all system audio as Others, transcribes on your Mac, and writes a summary with Claude or in a Basic format (no AI). You also get notes, markers, summary templates and time references that link into the transcript. Capturing Others needs System Audio Recording access.
Meeting export
Save as .md writes one meeting as a Markdown file. Copy Markdown, Apple Notes and Mail Draft work from the Summary tab; the mail is never sent automatically. Optionally, finished meetings go to a folder as Markdown with a YAML header meant for notes apps such as Obsidian.
Smart formatting
Smart Capitalization, Smart Paragraphs and Spoken Punctuation are on by default; Remove Filler Words is off. All run locally, also for raw dictation.
Audio while recording
Optional: Pause Media During Recording, or Duck Audio During Recording to a level from 5% to 50%. Both are off by default.
Indicator and history
The recording indicator comes as Notch, Overlay or Minimal. History is off by default; if you enable it, entries with text, time and target app stay on your Mac.
Good to know
What you need, what to watch for, and what it does not do yet.
Requirements
- macOS 15 or later. The Apple SpeechAnalyzer engine needs macOS 26 or later, and so does the Local (Apple Intelligence) rewrite, with Apple Intelligence enabled
- Microphone and Accessibility permission, both required: without Accessibility the app cannot see the key press or insert text
- Internet for model downloads, Claude (Cloud) rewrites and the license check, which repeats every 24 hours
- Claude (Cloud) rewrites and Claude meeting summaries need your own Claude API key
- Free trial, started by submitting your email address at first launch; after the trial a license key is required
Limits
- Meeting mode is beta and off until you turn it on
- Meeting transcripts have two speakers only: You and Others. Others is all system audio mixed, including music and notification sounds; there are no participant names
- Nemotron 3.5 (Streaming) is English only and ignores the Language setting
- Spoken Punctuation and Remove Filler Words know German and English only
- The Local (Apple Intelligence) rewrite is experimental: on very short dictations, or ones that sound like a question, the model can answer like a chatbot instead of cleaning up your text
- Live Transcript Preview is experimental
- The Basic format (no AI) only lists your notes and the first transcript lines; it is not a written summary
- The key names and fixed values of the YAML header in folder exports cannot be changed
Good to know
- If a Claude request fails, the text is inserted without a rewrite, after the local steps. A failed clipboard rewrite shows an error instead.
- A clipboard rewrite puts its result on the clipboard; your previous clipboard is not restored.
- In a password field, or if another app comes to the front while pasting, nothing is pasted: the text stays on the clipboard for you to paste with Command-V.
- Assigning Caps Lock remaps it to F19 while the app runs, so it no longer toggles uppercase. After a crash or a forced quit it stays remapped until you restart the app or the Mac.
- A new installation starts with three snippets that come with the app (date, time, timecode note). If you updated from an earlier version, your stored snippet list is kept and may still contain sample snippets with another person's signature or address; edit or delete those.
- With Auto-Detect and Remove Filler Words on, the English “um” also removes the German “um” from “um 3 Uhr”. Select Deutsch if you dictate German.
- Without headphones, the meeting echo filter removes your lines that repeat what Others just said. With headphones, switch it off under Meetings, Transcript.
- Copy Recording Notice gives you an English text to paste into the call chat. Record only when all participants know and agree.
What leaves your Mac
- Raw dictation sends no text to Claude.
- A Claude (Cloud) rewrite sends text to Anthropic’s API with your own key: the dictated text, the profile prompt, the app name, your vocabulary and, if you enabled them in the profile, clipboard or window title. Text only, no audio.
- Local (Apple Intelligence) rewrites run on your Mac and need no key or network.
- Meeting transcription runs on your Mac. Only the summary step sends the transcript and your notes to Claude, and only with the provider Claude and a saved key.
- History is stored locally and never leaves your Mac. Exported meeting files are ordinary files: in a synced folder, such as a cloud drive or a notes vault, they leave your Mac with it.
Download MalibuDictate
Version 0.10.8 for macOS 15 or later. Free trial. Check for Updates … and Send Feedback … are inside the app.