A native macOS voice-to-text utility.
Press ⌥Space to record, then transcribe — text is automatically pasted into the focused app. Tap to toggle, or hold and release; Shhhcribble figures out which you meant.
Powered by NVIDIA Parakeet V3 via FluidAudio. Runs entirely on-device — no API keys, no cloud.
- Smart activation — one global hotkey, works in any app, no Input Monitoring required. Quick tap = toggle (tap again to stop, great for long dictations); press and hold = push-to-talk (release to transcribe). No mode to configure — Shhhcribble detects which you meant from how long you hold
- Auto-paste — text goes directly into the focused field (native apps via Accessibility, everything else via ⌘V, clipboard as fallback)
- Clipboard restore — your prior clipboard is restored ~2 s after paste, so transcribing doesn't clobber the URL / code snippet you had copied
- Escape-to-cancel — press Escape mid-recording to abort without pasting
- Parakeet V3 — ~10× faster than Whisper, better accuracy, no silence hallucination, 25 languages
- Floating soundwave panel — recording state, live transcription preview, "Copied!" / "No speech detected" feedback
- Transcription history — last 10 transcriptions accessible from the menu bar, persist across launches
- Menu bar only — no Dock icon
- Filler word filter — optionally strips "um", "uh", "hmm" from transcriptions
- Auto-pause music — Spotify and Apple Music pause automatically while you dictate, resume when you're done. AirPods-aware: waits for the codec to switch back before unmuting so music doesn't bleed through the mic-active route
Download the latest Shhhcribble.dmg from the Releases page.
- Open the
.dmg, drag Shhhcribble to Applications - Right-click → Open on first launch (bypasses Gatekeeper — only needed once)
- Grant Microphone when prompted
- Wait for the model to download (~494 MB, one-time)
If right-click → Open doesn't work, run
xattr -cr /Applications/Shhhcribble.appin Terminal.
git clone https://github.com/itsHendri/Shhhcribble.git shhhcribble
cd shhhcribble
open Shhhcribble.xcodeproj- Select the Shhhcribble scheme and your Mac as destination
- Signing & Capabilities → Team — pick your Apple Developer team
- ⌘R to build and run
Requires macOS 14.0+ and Xcode 15.0+.
- Click into any text field
- Press ⌥Space — soundwave panel appears
- Speak
- Stop the recording — text is transcribed and pasted
Two ways to record, and Shhhcribble picks based on how long you hold:
- Hold ⌥Space while you speak, then release — push-to-talk.
- Quick tap ⌥Space to start, tap again to stop — toggle mode, handy for longer dictations where holding gets tiring.
Press Escape mid-recording to cancel without pasting.
Click the menu bar icon → Settings…
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Model | Parakeet V3 (multilingual, 25 langs) ✦ / Parakeet V2 (English-optimized) |
| Hotkey | ⌥Space, ⌃Space, ⌥`, ⌃⌥Space |
| Filler filter | On/Off — removes um, uh, hmm |
| Permission | Required? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Microphone | Yes | Prompted automatically |
| Accessibility | Optional | Enables direct text insertion and Escape-to-cancel; without it, text goes via ⌘V and Escape does nothing |
| Automation (Spotify / Music) | Optional | Prompted the first time you record while Spotify or Music is open. Approve once → Shhhcribble can pause and resume your music while you dictate. Decline if you'd rather it didn't |
After rebuilding in Xcode, re-grant Accessibility: remove Shhhcribble from the list, then re-add it. AX is tied to the binary signature, which changes on every clean build.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| ⌥Space does nothing | Model still loading — wait for "Ready" in menu bar |
| Text not pasted | Grant Accessibility in System Settings → Privacy |
| "No microphone detected" | Connect a mic and check System Settings → Sound → Input |
| App not in menu bar | Check Activity Monitor; rebuild clean (⌘⇧K then ⌘R) |
Build a shareable DMG:
bash Distribution/create-dmg.shProduces Shhhcribble.dmg on your Desktop. Recipients right-click → Open on first launch.
Copyright (C) 2026 Tiuri Hartog (@itsHendri).
Shhhcribble is free software released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 — see LICENSE for the full text. You may redistribute and/or modify it under those terms; it comes with no warranty.
Built by Hendri. Uses FluidAudio and NVIDIA Parakeet V3 for on-device transcription.