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This guide walks you through everything you need to do to start dictating with FluidVoice. The first four steps are required; the remaining steps are optional enhancements you can add whenever you’re ready. Most users are up and running in under five minutes.
1

Install FluidVoice

Install FluidVoice using Homebrew, by downloading the latest release from GitHub, or from FluidVoice webpage
After installation, open FluidVoice from your Applications folder. The onboarding wizard starts automatically on first launch.
FluidVoice requires macOS 15.0 Sequoia or later and an Apple Silicon Mac for most models. Intel Macs are supported via Whisper models (version 1.5.1+).
2

Grant permissions

FluidVoice needs two permissions to work. macOS will prompt you for both during onboarding.Microphone access — allows FluidVoice to capture your voice. Without it, dictation cannot start. Click Allow when macOS shows the microphone prompt.Accessibility access — allows FluidVoice to type transcribed text directly into any app using the macOS Accessibility API. Without it, FluidVoice can transcribe but cannot insert text. To enable it, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and toggle FluidVoice on.
If you deny the accessibility permission, dictation will work but text will not be inserted into other apps. You can re-enable it at any time in System Settings.
3

Set your global hotkey

A global hotkey lets you trigger the dictation tool from any app without switching to FluidVoice. By default,⌥ Option key is set for trigger.** For a custom key,** open Settings → Global Hotkey → Primary Dictation Shortcuts.You can also personalize how you start and stop the recording: either by holding down the key (Hold mode), or a double-tap to start and stop recording (Toggle mode), or Auto mode. For this, go to Settings → Global Hotkey → Activation Mode.
4

Choose a speech model

During onboarding, FluidVoice recommends you a speech model based on your language preferences. FluidVoice also offers you the option to pick a model of your choosing from our range of supported models. Each model offers a different balance of language support, latency, accuracy, and download size. You can either pick what FluidVoice recommends, or pick a model of your choosing.If you’re unsure, start with Apple Speech (no download required) or **Parakeet TDT v2 **for English, or Parakeet TDT v3 for a fast multilingual experience on Apple Silicon. You can switch models at any time by going to the Voice Engine page.
If you’re on an Intel Mac, select a Whisper model. It’s the only family that supports Intel hardware.
5

(Optional) Enable Fluid Intelligence

Fluid Intelligence is a local AI layer that polishes your dictation after transcription — smart formatting, context-aware capitalization, adaptive tone per app, and handling of dates, names, and numbers. Everything runs on your Mac; no data leaves your machine.To enable it, click Enable Fluid Intelligence during onboarding, or go to Settings → Fluid Intelligence after setup. The Fluid-1 model download is approximately 3.5 GB.
Fluid Intelligence is completely optional. FluidVoice is fully functional without it. Enable it when you want on-device AI polish without any cloud dependency. Fluid Intelligence causes a very minimal delay in output, so FluidVoice gives you the option to toggle it on or off through the overlay itself.
6

(Optional) Add a cloud AI provider

If you prefer cloud-based post-processing, you can also connect an AI provider for text enhancement. FluidVoice supports OpenAI, Groq, and custom providers (any OpenAI-compatible API endpoint). You can find more details on the AI Enhancement page.Go to AI Enhancement → AI Providers and enter your API key. Keys are stored securely in the macOS Keychain — not in the app, not in any log file. When macOS prompts for Keychain access, select Always Allow so FluidVoice can retrieve the key without interrupting your dictation flow.
Cloud AI enhancement is opt-in. No text is sent to any external service unless you add a provider and enable enhancement.
7

Start dictating

Press your hotkey, speak naturally, and press it again to stop recording. If you have turned on Hold activation mode in the Global Hotkey menu —  press your hotkey, speak naturally, and release. FluidVoice captures your voice, runs it through the locally downloaded speech model, and inserts the transcribed text directly into the focused text field — no copy-paste, no switching apps.
  • Use Direct Dictation for fast, inline text entry anywhere on your Mac.
  • Switch to **Edit Mode(alpha)  **to dictate into a dedicated overlay, or to select and rewrite existing text.
  • Switch to Command Mode (alpha) to control your Mac by voice — launch apps, trigger shortcuts, and run automations.
The live overlay shows your words in real time as you speak, so you always know what’s being captured.
To get early access to new features before they ship in stable releases, go to Settings → Automatic Updates → Beta Releases and enable the beta channel. Beta builds are opt-in and you can switch back to stable at any time.