> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.altic.dev/fluidvoice/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# FluidVoice Frequently Asked Questions and Common Answers

> Answers to common questions about FluidVoice: pricing, compatibility, supported models, privacy, permissions, and how to get started.

FluidVoice is a free, open-source macOS dictation app with on-device AI enhancement. If you're evaluating it, just getting started, or running into a question mid-setup, you'll find the most common answers below. Can't find what you're looking for? Join the community on [Discord](https://discord.gg/VUPHaKSvYV).

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Is FluidVoice free?">
    Yes. FluidVoice is completely free and open source—no subscription, no paid tiers, no feature gating. The core dictation experience works out of the box at no cost.

    If FluidVoice is useful to you, you can support continued development (including future iOS and Windows work) through [GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/altic-dev).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What macOS version does FluidVoice require?">
    FluidVoice requires **macOS 15.0 Sequoia or later**. It will not run on older versions of macOS.

    You also need to grant microphone access for voice capture and accessibility permissions for typing into other apps. FluidVoice guides you through both during onboarding.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does FluidVoice support Intel Macs?">
    Yes. FluidVoice supports Intel Macs using **Whisper models** (from version 1.5.1 onward). All other models—Nemotron, Parakeet, Cohere, and Apple Speech—require Apple Silicon.

    If you're on an Intel Mac, select a Whisper model during onboarding.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Which speech models does FluidVoice support?">
    FluidVoice supports a wide range of local speech recognition models:

    | Model                                        | Best for                               | Download size      | Hardware              |
    | -------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ------------------ | --------------------- |
    | Nemotron Speech 3.5 — Ultra Fast Low Latency | Streaming multilingual dictation       | \~670 MB           | Apple Silicon         |
    | Nemotron 3.5 Multilingual                    | Higher-accuracy multilingual dictation | \~530 MB           | Apple Silicon         |
    | Parakeet Flash (Beta)                        | Lowest-latency English dictation       | \~250 MB           | Apple Silicon         |
    | Parakeet TDT v3                              | Fast multilingual dictation            | \~500 MB           | Apple Silicon         |
    | Parakeet TDT v2                              | Fast English-only dictation            | \~500 MB           | Apple Silicon         |
    | Cohere Transcribe                            | High-accuracy multilingual dictation   | \~1.4 GB           | Apple Silicon         |
    | Apple Speech                                 | Zero-download native macOS speech      | Built-in           | Apple Silicon + Intel |
    | Whisper Tiny / Base / Small / Medium / Large | Broad compatibility, Intel support     | \~75 MB – \~2.9 GB | Apple Silicon + Intel |

    Choose a model based on your language needs and how much disk space you want to use.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What is Fluid Intelligence and the Fluid-1 model?">
    **Fluid Intelligence** is a local AI runtime that runs the **Fluid-1** model directly on your Mac. It provides advanced on-device dictation enhancement:

    * Smart formatting and structure
    * Context-aware capitalization
    * Adaptive tone based on the active app
    * Post-processing of rough dictation into clean, polished text

    Everything runs locally—no cloud connection, no API key, and no data leaves your machine. Fluid Intelligence is fully optional and requires approximately **3.5 GB** of disk space for the model download.

    FluidVoice works great on its own without Fluid Intelligence. You can download and enable it during onboarding or at any time from Settings.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How many languages does FluidVoice support?">
    Language support depends on which speech model you use:

    * **Nemotron Speech 3.5** — approximately 40 languages, including Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Hindi, Korean, English, German, French, Russian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Dutch, Japanese, Arabic, Ukrainian, and more
    * **Parakeet Flash (Beta)** — English only
    * **Parakeet TDT v3** — 25 languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Russian, and Ukrainian
    * **Parakeet TDT v2** — English only
    * **Cohere Transcribe** — 14 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Dutch, Polish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Arabic
    * **Apple Speech** — depends on the speech recognition languages installed on your Mac
    * **Whisper** — up to 99 languages, depending on the model size you choose

    For the broadest language support, use Nemotron Speech 3.5 or Whisper.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does FluidVoice work offline?">
    Yes. FluidVoice is local-first. All speech recognition runs on-device using local models—no internet connection is required for dictation.

    The only time FluidVoice requires a network connection is if you choose to use a cloud AI provider (OpenAI, Groq, or a custom provider) for post-processing. Fluid Intelligence and all built-in speech models run entirely offline.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What permissions does FluidVoice need?">
    FluidVoice requires two permissions:

    1. **Microphone** — to capture your voice for speech recognition. Without this, the hotkey does nothing.
    2. **Accessibility** — to type transcribed text into any app via macOS Accessibility APIs. Without this, FluidVoice can transcribe but cannot insert text.

    FluidVoice requests both permissions during onboarding with guided instructions. You can also grant or revoke them at any time in **System Settings → Privacy & Security**.

    See the [Permissions guide](/fluidvoice/fluidvoice/configuration/permissions) for full details.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does FluidVoice send my voice or text to the cloud?">
    No—not by default. Your voice recordings and transcribed text stay on your Mac.

    The only exception is if you explicitly choose a cloud AI provider (OpenAI, Groq, or a custom endpoint) for dictation enhancement. In that case, your transcription text is sent to that provider's API. If you use **Fluid Intelligence** instead, everything remains local.

    FluidVoice never sends your audio or text to ALTIC or any third party as part of normal operation.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What does FluidVoice analytics collect?">
    FluidVoice includes optional anonymous analytics (enabled by default) to help track app health and feature usage.

    **Collected:**

    * App version, build number, and macOS version
    * Low-cardinality feature and configuration flags (e.g., which mode is active)
    * Approximate usage ranges (not exact values)
    * High-level success and error outcomes

    **Never collected:**

    * Voice recordings, raw audio, or transcribed text
    * Selected text, prompts, or AI responses
    * Terminal commands, window titles, file paths, clipboard contents, or typed text
    * Any personal or private information

    To disable analytics, go to **Settings → Share Anonymous Analytics** and toggle it off.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Where can I download FluidVoice?">
    Install FluidVoice with Homebrew:

    ```bash theme={null}
    brew install --cask fluidvoice
    ```

    Or download the latest release directly from GitHub:

    [https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/releases/latest](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/releases/latest)
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I join the community?">
    Connect with other FluidVoice users and follow development through these channels:

    * **Discord** — [discord.gg/VUPHaKSvYV](https://discord.gg/VUPHaKSvYV) — the main community hub for questions, feedback, and announcements
    * **GitHub** — [github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice) — source code, issues, and pull requests
    * **X / Twitter** — [@ALTIC\_DEV](https://x.com/ALTIC_DEV) — development updates and announcements
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What license does FluidVoice use?">
    From **2026-02-23** onward, FluidVoice is licensed under the **GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3)**. Versions published before that date were licensed under Apache License 2.0.

    You can read the full license in the [repository](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/LICENSE).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>