Speak freely. Keep every word on your Mac.
Offline voice dictation turns speech into text without sending every recording to a remote transcription service. Elokin brings that private workflow to Apple silicon Macs with local models, a hold-to-talk shortcut, and writing profiles that can also run on-device.
What is offline voice dictation?
Offline voice dictation is speech recognition performed directly on your computer. Instead of uploading microphone audio to a server and waiting for a cloud service to return text, a local machine-learning model processes the recording on your Mac.
This changes more than connectivity. Local processing gives you a clearer privacy boundary, removes per-minute transcription fees, and lets you dictate when the network is unavailable or unreliable. It is particularly useful for private notes, client context, code, product ideas, and any work that you would rather not send to another service.
Local by default: Elokin records only when you trigger dictation. Its built-in transcription and writing profiles can work on the Mac after their models have been downloaded.
How Elokin works without the cloud
Elokin is a native menu bar app designed for Apple silicon. During setup, you choose and download a speech-recognition model. That model is stored on your Mac and performs transcription locally.
- Hold your chosen keyboard shortcut when you want to dictate.
- Speak naturally while Elokin records the current dictation.
- Release the shortcut. Elokin transcribes locally and copies the result, ready to paste.
You can keep the raw transcript or use a built-in profile such as Polished, Concise, or Translate to English. Those built-in transformations use a separately downloaded local model, so they do not require a cloud provider.
Local dictation versus cloud dictation
Cloud dictation can be convenient, especially when it is built into an operating system or web service. The trade-off is that audio or transcript data may leave the computer, and the feature may depend on an account, a connection, usage limits, or a recurring plan.
With local dictation, the compute happens on hardware you already own. There is an initial model download and local disk-space requirement, but everyday dictation does not create a new API bill. Performance also avoids a cloud network round trip.
Elokin still leaves room for choice. If you create a custom profile that uses OpenAI, Anthropic, or an OpenAI-compatible provider, the transcript can be sent to that provider for the transformation you requested. The local path remains the default, while external AI is optional and explicit.
When offline dictation is especially useful
- Writing private notes: capture thoughts without uploading the recording.
- Drafting prompts: give an AI coding assistant more context without spending time typing it all.
- Working while travelling: dictate on a train, plane, or unreliable connection after model installation.
- Reducing subscription fatigue: use your Mac for recurring transcription work instead of paying by the month or minute.
- Using specialist vocabulary: add names, acronyms, frameworks, and domain terms to Elokin’s vocabulary categories.
What you need to get started
Elokin requires macOS 14 or later and a Mac with Apple silicon. Because the models are downloaded separately, you should also leave enough disk space for the speech model and, if you want local writing profiles, the local processing model.
The model manager shows what is installed and lets you unload or remove models you no longer need. Once setup is complete, normal dictation is deliberately simple: hold, speak, release, then paste the copied text wherever you need it.
Frequently asked questions
Can voice dictation work completely offline on a Mac?+
Yes. After the selected speech and processing models have been downloaded, Elokin can transcribe speech and run its built-in profiles locally without an internet connection.
Does Elokin upload microphone audio?+
Built-in dictation processes audio on your Mac. Optional custom cloud profiles may send transcript text to the provider you configure, but they are never required for local transcription.
Which Macs support local dictation?+
Elokin requires an Apple silicon Mac and macOS 14 or later. It is not designed for Intel Macs.
Do I need an account or subscription?+
No. Elokin is a one-time Mac App Store purchase and does not require an Elokin account or recurring subscription.