Steno is a high-performance voice-to-text application designed for macOS and iOS, revolutionizing how users interact with their computers and mobile devices. Built natively in Swift, Steno prioritizes speed, accuracy, and privacy, offering a seamless dictation experience across virtually any application. Unlike traditional typing, which can be slow and lead to fatigue, Steno enables users to speak at up to 150 words per minute, significantly boosting productivity.
The core functionality revolves around a simple "hold-to-speak" mechanism. On Mac, users press and hold a designated hotkey (default: Left Control), speak naturally, and upon releasing the key, their words are instantly transcribed and typed wherever the cursor is. This sub-second transcription (typically 200-500ms) ensures a fluid workflow without interruptions. For iPhone users, the Steno Keyboard replaces the default keyboard, offering a built-in mic button for dictation in any app, from WhatsApp to email.
Key features that set Steno apart include:
- Universal Compatibility: Works seamlessly across all applications on Mac and iPhone, including text editors, browsers, Slack, email clients, and even developer tools like VS Code and Terminal.
- Voice Commands: Execute actions like "period," "new line," "select all," or "undo" simply by speaking them.
- Text Snippets: Save frequently used text blocks and insert them with a simple voice command (e.g., "address" to type out a full address).
- Dictation History: All transcriptions are saved, searchable, and easily copied for future reference.
- WPM Tracking: Monitor dictation speed, daily sessions, and total words over time to track productivity gains.
- Smart Rewrite: An AI-powered feature that automatically polishes transcribed text based on the application context, ensuring appropriate tone (casual for Slack, professional for email, technical for code).
- Multi-language Support: Supports over 90 languages with automatic detection, allowing users to switch languages mid-sentence, translate to English, or transliterate to Roman script.
- Offline Mode: For Apple Silicon Macs, transcription can run entirely on-device without an internet connection, ensuring maximum privacy and speed.
- Voice Isolation: Advanced audio processing filters out background noise, focusing solely on the user's voice in noisy environments.
- Dev-aware Intelligence: Specifically designed for developers, Steno intelligently preserves technical terms, camelCase, snake_case, CLI commands, and file paths when used in code editors.
- Meeting Mode & AI Summaries: Transcribe entire meetings in real-time with speaker identification and generate structured summaries with key takeaways and action items with a single click.
Steno is built with a strong emphasis on privacy and security. It employs no always-on listening, activating the microphone only when the hotkey is held. Audio recordings are instantly deleted after transcription, with nothing saved to disk or uploaded to Steno's servers. There is no keystroke logging, and audio is sent directly to transcription providers over encrypted connections, never touching Steno's infrastructure. This commitment to privacy makes it suitable for individual users and enterprise environments, with features like MDM deployment and volume licensing. The app's minimal footprint (under 2 MB) and native Swift architecture ensure lightning-fast performance and efficient resource usage, distinguishing it from larger, Electron-based alternatives.
