Speech Dock
macOS

Install on macOS

Speech Dock for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) and Intel Mac. Metal GPU acceleration, native NSPanel overlay, native CGEvent for global hotkeys.

One API, but you need to grant permissions

Like Windows, macOS has one system way to insert text into the active window — no choice between X11 and Wayland like on Linux. But unlike Windows, macOS requires explicitly granted permissions (Accessibility, Input Monitoring) — without them, auto-paste and hotkeys will not work. How to grant them is further down this page.

Pick your architecture

Check your architecture: Apple menu → About this Mac → «Chip» section (M1/M2/M3 = Apple Silicon, Intel Core = Intel).

Apple Silicon

M1, M2, M3 and newer. Metal GPU acceleration, native arm64 binary.

Download DMG (arm64)

Intel Mac

Intel Core i5/i7/i9. Supported on macOS 11.0 Big Sur or newer.

Download DMG (x64)

System requirements and tradeoffs.

Local processing depends on memory, disk and first-run setup. A GPU is optional, but supported accelerators may reduce processing delay.

macOS

  • OSmacOS 11.0 Big Sur or newer
  • ArchitectureApple Silicon · Intel x86_64
  • RAM8 GB minimum · 16 GB recommended
  • DiskThe required components download during first setup; keep several GB of free space
  • GPUNot required; Metal may be used on supported Macs
  • NetworkNeeded to download the required components, plus updates, checkout and license
  • IntegrationAppleScript, Accessibility API

Installation

  1. 1

    Download the DMG

    The file opens automatically in Finder.

  2. 2

    Drag Speech Dock.app into the Applications folder

    Standard drag-and-drop install for macOS.

  3. 3

    On first launch Gatekeeper may block the app

    This is normal macOS behaviour for apps outside the App Store. See the Gatekeeper section below.

  4. 4

    Grant Microphone and Accessibility permissions

    See the sections below.

Gatekeeper: allow the app to run

Speech Dock is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized, so in most cases it launches without warnings. If you see the «the app can't be opened» dialog, do the following:

Method 1 (recommended)

  1. Open the Applications folder in Finder
  2. Hold Control and click Speech Dock.app
  3. Pick «Open» from the context menu
  4. Click «Open» again in the dialog

Method 2 (via System Settings)

  1. Launch the app — a warning appears, click «Cancel»
  2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security
  3. Near the bottom you'll see «Speech Dock was blocked»
  4. Click «Open Anyway»

After one successful launch macOS remembers the permission and won't ask again.

Accessibility (for global hotkeys)

macOS requires Accessibility permission for:

  • Global hotkeys (start/stop dictation from any app via CGEventTap)
  • Auto-pasting text into the active window (Cmd+V via CGEvent)

The app's onboarding wizard will request the permission automatically. To configure manually:

  1. System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
  2. Find Speech Dock in the list (if missing, click «+» and add it from Applications)
  3. Toggle the switch on
  4. Restart Speech Dock

Microphone

On first launch Speech Dock will request microphone access. If you accidentally declined — System Settings → Privacy → Microphone → enable the toggle next to Speech Dock.

Troubleshooting

This is the Gatekeeper message for apps outside the App Store. See the Gatekeeper section above (Method 1 or Method 2). After one successful launch the warning disappears.

Most often — Accessibility permission isn't granted. Open System Settings → Privacy → Accessibility and make sure the toggle next to Speech Dock is on. After changing the permission, restart the app.

Auto-paste also requires Accessibility (the same toggle). If the permission is granted but it still doesn't work — try:

  • Restart the app completely (Cmd+Q, then relaunch)
  • In System Settings, toggle Accessibility off and back on
  • Reboot the Mac (sometimes CGEventTap caches stale state)

Metal acceleration works on every Apple Silicon Mac automatically. On Intel Mac, Metal is not available for ML inference — the app uses the CPU. This is expected behaviour.

If you're on Apple Silicon but the app is slow — open Activity Monitor and check that Speech Dock uses resources in the «% GPU» column. If it shows 0% — ggml-metal.metallib may not have loaded; please contact support.

Sometimes macOS sets the quarantine flag incorrectly. Clear it from Terminal:

Terminal
bash
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/"Speech Dock.app"

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Documentation