Help center

How can we help?

Short answers to the questions people ask most. Can't find yours? Write to hello@featherweightsoftware.com.

Getting started

What is Featherweight Dictation?
A small Mac app for dictation. Hold a key, say what you want to write, and let go: your words appear where your cursor is, cleaned up and laid out for the app you're in. It lives in your menu bar and stays out of the way.
What do I need?
A Mac with macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, Apple silicon or Intel, a microphone (the built-in one is fine) and an internet connection.
How do I get started?
Download Featherweight Dictation, drag it into Applications and open it. A short guide walks you through signing in, allowing the microphone and Accessibility, and a first try.
Why does it need Accessibility?
To type for you. Featherweight Dictation pastes your words where your cursor is, and checks which app is in front so it can lay them out to fit. It never records your screen.

Which key do I hold?
fn (the 🌐 key) by default. You can switch to right Option or right Command in Featherweight Dictation's menu.
Holding fn opens emoji or switches my keyboard.
In System Settings, open Keyboard and set “Press 🌐 key to” to “Do Nothing”. If macOS Dictation is set to start with the fn key, give it a different shortcut too.
Which apps does it work in?
Any app where you can type: Mail, Slack, Notes, Messages, your browser, Docs, Notion, ChatGPT and the rest. If there's a text cursor, Featherweight Dictation can fill it.
What does “laid out for the app” mean?
With Smart formatting on, Featherweight Dictation tidies what you said for where it's going: a greeting and paragraphs in Mail, one clean line in Slack, a list in Notes. Turn Smart formatting off in the menu to get your words as you said them.
Which languages does it understand?
It listens in the language your Mac is set to. Most major languages work.
Does it work offline?
No. Your speech is turned into text on our servers, so you need an internet connection. That's also why the app on your Mac can stay so small.
How fast is it?
Short takes usually land about a second after you let go. Longer ones that get laid out as an email or a list take two or three.

Do you keep my recordings or what I say?
No. Your audio and your words are never stored. We keep counts and timings, such as how long you spoke and how many words came out, to run your plan. The Privacy Policy has the details.
Who processes my audio?
Our server sends it to a speech-to-text provider (xAI, with OpenAI as a backup), and the text to OpenAI to lay it out. The result comes straight back to your Mac. The Privacy Policy lists every provider we use.

How does the free trial work?
You get 5 days or 3,000 words, whichever comes first, starting the first time you sign in from a Mac. No card needed. Each Mac gets one trial.
What does unlimited mean?
Dictate as much as you like for $5 a month. Fair use is up to 3 hours of speech a day.
How many Macs can I use?
Up to 7 on one account. You can see them all, and sign any of them out, on your account page.
How do I cancel?
On your account page, choose Cancel subscription. You keep unlimited until the end of the period you've paid for, and you aren't charged again. You can also write to info@featherweightsoftware.com.
Can I get a refund?
Payments are final, except where the law says otherwise or the checkout says so. If something went wrong, write to info@featherweightsoftware.com and we'll look into it.

Nothing happens when I hold the key.
Check that Featherweight Dictation is running (its icon is in your menu bar), and that it's switched on in System Settings, under Privacy & Security, for both Accessibility and Microphone. After a macOS update, switching it off and on again there can help.
I can't see the menu bar icon.
macOS hides menu bar icons when there isn't room, and while an app is full screen. Open Featherweight Dictation again from Applications or Spotlight and its window appears.
It says I'm signed in on too many Macs.
Sign one out on your account page, then sign in on the new Mac.
How do I uninstall it?
Quit Featherweight Dictation from its menu, drag it from Applications to the Trash, and sign that Mac out on your account page so it no longer counts.
Still stuck?
Write to hello@featherweightsoftware.com and a person will get back to you.