YappYapp vs Apple Dictation: which one for your Mac
Apple Dictation is free, already on your Mac, covers more languages and needs no setup, so for short messages it is often all you need. YappYapp is also free and runs on your Mac, and it adds what Apple's guide does not describe: a custom vocabulary for names and jargon, a choice of speech models (Parakeet, Whisper, Qwen3-ASR), local cleanup and translation, and per-app settings.
Prices and features checked on 25 Oct 2026 on each product's own site.
What Apple says about on-device processing
This is the question most people have, and Apple's wording has changed between versions of its guide.
The macOS Sonoma (14) version of Apple's dictation guide says: "On a Mac with Apple silicon, Dictation requests are processed on your device for supported languages" and "no internet connection is required." It adds: "When you dictate on an Intel-based Mac or in a language that doesn't support on-device dictation," your "dictated utterances are sent to Apple to process your requests."
The current version of the guide no longer has those sentences. Instead it says you can check Keyboard settings to see whether your voice inputs and transcripts "are processed on your device and not sent to Siri servers." So on a current Mac, look in System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation for your language.
Apple's Siri and Dictation privacy page explains what happens to requests that do reach Apple: they are tied to "a random, device-generated identifier that rotates multiple times per hour," not to your Apple Account; Apple "may retain and use this data for up to two years"; audio is not stored unless you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation; and transcripts "may be used to fine-tune" Siri, Search, Voice Control, Translate and speech recognition models.
YappYapp has no server path. It transcribes on the Mac with the model you picked, deletes the temporary audio afterwards, and keeps your last 10 transcripts in memory only.
Comparison table (checked 25 Oct 2026)
| YappYapp 0.4.1 | Apple Dictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free, built into macOS |
| Where speech is processed | On your Mac only | On device on Apple silicon for supported languages; sent to Apple on Intel Macs and for other languages (macOS 14 guide) |
| Account | None | Not required; server requests use a rotating random identifier |
| Works offline | Yes, once a model is downloaded | Yes on Apple silicon for on-device languages (speech models download first) |
| Open source | Yes, MIT License | No |
| Macs | Apple Silicon only, macOS 14+ | Apple silicon and Intel |
| Languages | 25 European languages with Parakeet Ultra (default), about 100 with Whisper, 52 languages and dialects with Qwen3-ASR | 63 language and region entries; 48 of them on device |
| Custom vocabulary | Yes, the WORDS tab, plus snippets | Not described in Apple's guide |
| Types into any app | Yes, option+space by default | Yes, Microphone key or a shortcut you choose |
| Length | Stops when you stop it, or at a limit you set (5 minutes by default, up to 15) | Any length; stops after 30 seconds without speech |
Apple's language counts are the entries listed on its macOS Feature Availability page, where each region of a language counts once.
Who should pick which
Apple Dictation is the better choice when
- You want nothing to install. Turn it on in System Settings > Keyboard > Dictation and press the Microphone key.
- Your language is not covered by YappYapp's default model. Apple lists more language and region entries, and handles switching between languages while you dictate.
- You have an Intel Mac. YappYapp needs Apple Silicon.
- You dictate short messages. Auto-punctuation (in some languages), emoji by voice and typing while you dictate all work out of the box.
YappYapp is the better choice when
- Names come out wrong. In the WORDS tab you add a name with the spelling you want and what the model writes instead. The fix is applied after every dictation, and Whisper and Qwen3-ASR also get your words before they transcribe. Learn from my fixes picks up a name you retype right after a paste.
- You want to choose the model. Parakeet Ultra is the default; Whisper and Qwen3-ASR cover other languages. Whisper or Parakeet on a Mac explains the trade-offs.
- You want text tidied before it lands. Optional local cleanup modes (CLEAN, EMAIL, LIST, NOTES), NUMBERS as digits or words, and spoken "new line" or "scratch that".
- You write in one language and need another. TRANSLATE TO turns a dictation into one of ten languages on the Mac.
- You want to know exactly where your voice goes. There is no server path to check, and the source is public. The offline dictation guide shows how to test it with Wi-Fi off.
Using both
Nothing stops you from keeping Apple Dictation on and adding YappYapp. They use different shortcuts by default (the Microphone key for Apple, option+space for YappYapp), so you can use Apple's for a quick reply and YappYapp where spelling matters.
Trying YappYapp
- Download YappYapp, or run
brew install --cask migueltorrezd/.tap/ yappyapp - Follow the setup guide: six short first-run steps, including DETECT BEST MODELS, which suggests a speech model that fits your Mac before anything downloads. Allow Microphone and Accessibility.
- Add five names you use often to WORDS, then dictate a sentence with them in any app.
FAQ
Is Apple Dictation private?
On an Apple silicon Mac, for languages that support on-device dictation, Apple's macOS 14 guide says requests are processed on the device. Check System Settings > Keyboard for your language on your macOS version. Requests that go to Apple are covered by Apple's Siri and Dictation privacy page.
Does Apple Dictation have a custom vocabulary?
Apple's dictation guide and feature page do not describe one. YappYapp's WORDS tab is built for it.
Do I need to turn off Apple Dictation to use YappYapp?
No. They use different shortcuts and can both stay on.
Does YappYapp cost anything?
No. It is free, MIT licensed and needs no account.