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FluidVoice needs two macOS permissions to work: Microphone access to capture your voice, and Accessibility access to type transcribed text into other apps. Without both permissions, dictation either can’t start or can’t deliver text where you need it. FluidVoice walks you through granting both during onboarding, but you can also grant or revoke them at any time through System Settings.

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Microphone Access

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Why it’s needed

FluidVoice records audio from your microphone and passes it to the on-device speech recognition model. Without microphone access, the app cannot hear you, and pressing your hotkey does nothing.

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How to grant microphone access

1

Open System Settings

Open System Settings.
2

Navigate to Privacy & Security

Select Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
3

Open Microphone

Click Microphone in the list of permission categories.
4

Enable FluidVoice

Toggle FluidVoice on.

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What happens without it

If FluidVoice doesn’t have microphone access, pressing your hotkey produces no result. The app cannot record audio, so no transcription occurs. Check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone if your hotkey appears to do nothing.

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Accessibility Access

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Why it’s needed

FluidVoice uses macOS Accessibility APIs to type transcribed text directly into any focused text field—whether that’s a chat window, a code editor, a terminal, or a document. This is what makes system-wide dictation possible without clipboard interference.
Without Accessibility permission, FluidVoice can transcribe your speech but cannot type the resulting text into other apps. You will see transcription in the overlay, but nothing will be inserted into the app you’re using.

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How to grant accessibility access

1

Open System Settings

Go to System Settings.
2

Navigate to Privacy & Security

Select Privacy & Security in the sidebar.
3

Open Accessibility

Click Accessibility in the list of permission categories.
4

Enable FluidVoice

Toggle FluidVoice on. macOS may prompt you to unlock this section with your password or Touch ID.

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What happens without it

Without Accessibility permission, FluidVoice can still run and transcribe audio, but it cannot insert text into other apps.
Command Mode and Edit Mode specifically depend on Accessibility permission to send actions and text to other apps. If either mode isn’t working, verify this permission is enabled.

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Guided Onboarding

When you first launch FluidVoice, the onboarding flow requests both permissions with step-by-step instructions. Follow the prompts and grant access when macOS asks. If you skip a permission during onboarding, you can always return to System Settings → Privacy & Security to enable it later.

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Checking Your Current Permission Status

To verify which permissions FluidVoice currently has:
  1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
  2. Check Microphone — FluidVoice should appear with its toggle enabled.
  3. Check Accessibility — FluidVoice should appear with its toggle enabled.
If either toggle is off, enable it and relaunch FluidVoice.

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Revoking Permissions

To revoke a permission, return to System Settings → Privacy & Security, find the relevant category, and toggle FluidVoice off. FluidVoice will stop using that permission immediately. You can re-enable it at any time.