AI voice typing for macOS
Speak naturally. Get writing that is ready to use.
RoughSay is a voice typing app for Mac that turns rambling speech, corrections, and half-finished thoughts into clear writing. Hold one shortcut, talk as you think, and release to put the result wherever your cursor is.
- One shortcutHold ⌥ Space, speak, then release.
- Works across macOSPaste into native apps, browsers, and terminals.
- Your choice of processingCloud, local audio, or fully private transcription.
Voice typing that understands the point
Traditional dictation aims to type every word exactly as spoken. RoughSay can instead remove filler, follow a correction you make halfway through, and shape the final message for its destination. You can create presets for email replies, quick chat messages, structured notes, or detailed coding prompts.
App and website triggers can select the matching preset automatically. The finished text can appear in a preview for review, go straight to your cursor, or be saved to Apple Notes. RoughSay restores your previous clipboard contents after direct paste.
Write replies without re-explaining the conversation
When you select or copy a message before recording, a polished mode can use that text as reply context. Speak the substance of your answer and RoughSay can preserve relevant names, questions, and dates while applying the tone and structure of your preset.
You stay in control of when context is used. Private on-device dictation does not read selected text as reply context or construct an AI rewriting prompt. Translate Selection reads only text you explicitly select and processes it on-device.
Use it wherever you already write
RoughSay works anywhere macOS accepts typed text, including Mail, Slack, Gmail, LinkedIn, WhatsApp Web, Linear, Notion, iTerm, and text editors. It does not require a special editor or browser extension.
Need to change text that is already there? Select it, hold the shortcut, and describe the edit: shorter, clearer, friendlier, translated, reorganized, or more specific.
Choose how much stays on your Mac
Cloud + polish provides streaming transcription and AI rewriting. On-device + polish keeps microphone audio local, then sends the transcript and optional context for rewriting. Private on-device keeps the dictation content on your Mac and delivers the raw transcript after local text replacements.
The privacy page explains exactly what each mode processes and which services are involved.