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Setup / Guide 01

Getting Started With TypingVoi on Mac

Install TypingVoi, pick a model, and capture your first voice-to-text draft in a few minutes.

This guide is for new TypingVoi users who want to go from install to a first successful dictation on Mac without exploring every setting first. By the end, you will have the app running from the menu bar, the required permissions enabled, and your first spoken text captured into a real text field.

What to expect on first launch

TypingVoi is a menu bar app, so after you open it, look for its icon in the top-right menu bar instead of a normal dock-first app window.

Screenshot placeholder: TypingVoi menu bar icon with the app open in its first-run state

On first launch, expect these setup tasks:

  1. Open the app from Applications.
  2. Find TypingVoi in the menu bar.
  3. Allow macOS permission prompts as they appear.
  4. Keep the default profile for your first test.

The default profile is the fastest path to a working setup. You can tune languages, models, cleanup, and output behavior later.

1. Install and open TypingVoi

  1. Move TypingVoi to the Applications folder.
  2. Open it once from Applications.
  3. If macOS shows a security warning for a downloaded app, complete the normal macOS approval flow for software you trust.
  4. Wait for the menu bar icon to appear.

If you close the main panel by mistake, click the menu bar icon to open it again.

2. Allow microphone access

TypingVoi needs microphone permission before it can record anything.

  1. Open TypingVoi.
  2. When macOS asks for microphone access, click Allow.
  3. If you missed the prompt, open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone and enable TypingVoi manually.

Use a short spoken test after enabling it. If TypingVoi does not react to your voice, fix microphone access before doing anything else.

3. Allow Accessibility access for direct typing

Accessibility permission is what lets TypingVoi insert text into the active app for you.

  1. When TypingVoi asks for Accessibility access, open the permission screen.
  2. Enable TypingVoi in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.
  3. Return to TypingVoi and try again.

If you skip this step, TypingVoi can still work, but the result may go to the clipboard instead of typing into the current field automatically.

4. Keep the default profile for your first test

For the first recording, do not optimize yet. Use the default profile so you can confirm the basic workflow works end to end.

The default profile is enough to verify:

  • the microphone is available
  • TypingVoi can start and stop a recording
  • a model is ready for transcription
  • output reaches the place you expect

If TypingVoi asks you to download or choose a model before recording, complete that step and then come back to this guide. The dedicated setup guide for that is Download and Manage Models.

5. Make your first recording

Open any safe test field first, such as Notes, TextEdit, or a blank draft in the app you use most.

  1. Click the TypingVoi menu bar icon.
  2. Confirm the default profile is selected.
  3. Start recording from the menu bar panel.
  4. Speak one or two short sentences.
  5. Stop the recording.
  6. Wait for the transcript to finish.

A good first test sentence is:

TypingVoi is ready, and this is my first voice note on Mac.

Keep the first test short on purpose. You are checking the workflow, not trying to judge every model option yet.

6. Check where the output appears

After transcription finishes, TypingVoi usually sends the result to one of these places:

  • directly into the text field at your cursor
  • into the original field you started from, depending on your output settings
  • to the clipboard if direct insertion is unavailable

If nothing appears where you expected, check the clipboard before assuming the recording failed. Clipboard fallback is often the reason the transcript exists but did not type into the active app.

7. Do one quick real-world test

Once the first test works, repeat it in the app you actually care about, such as your notes app, email app, chat app, or browser-based editor.

Use this short checklist:

  1. Put the cursor in a real input field.
  2. Start a short recording.
  3. Stop and wait for the transcript.
  4. Confirm the text lands in the right place.
  5. Confirm the result is usable without major cleanup.

If that works, your setup is done well enough to start using TypingVoi in daily work.

If your first test does not work

The most common causes are:

  • microphone permission is off
  • Accessibility access is off
  • no compatible model is installed yet
  • the transcript went to the clipboard instead of the current field

Use the settings reference if you want a quick map of where these controls live: TypingVoi Settings Reference by Pane.

Related guides

Best next step

If your first capture worked, continue with Record From the Menu Bar and Use Push to Talk to learn the core day-to-day recording workflow.