Your Mac’s audio
Everything your Mac plays is captioned live, labelled “Them”.
Captions for everything your Mac plays.
Live Transcript turns your Mac’s sound, and your microphone if you want, into live captions that drop down from the notch. Transcription happens entirely on your Mac.
macOS 26 or later · Apple silicon
00:00:12,040What it hears
If your Mac can hear it, you can read it.
Calls, videos, podcasts, lectures: whatever is playing becomes text as it’s spoken.
Your microphone, if you like
Turn the microphone on and your side of the conversation appears as “You”.
Both sides of a call
With both on, a meeting reads like a script: who said what, in order.
00:00:31,500How it works
Heard on your Mac. Written on your Mac. Kept on your Mac.
There’s no account and no cloud transcription. Audio never leaves your Mac to be turned into text.
- 1 · soundYour Mac plays itSystem audio, plus the microphone when you turn it on.
- 2 · speech modelOn-device recognitionApple Speech or Whisper turns sound into words on your Mac.
- 3 · captionsAt the notchWords appear as they’re spoken, at the notch or in a floating panel.
- 4 · historySaved and searchableEvery session is kept on your Mac, ready to search.
- 5 · exportOnly when you chooseMarkdown, plain text, SRT, VTT or Apple Notes.
The coloured line marks what stays on your Mac.AI is optional. Apple’s on-device model keeps summaries local; Claude, OpenRouter or your own server only receive transcript text you choose to send them.
00:01:04,880Features
Built around the notch, not another window.
Captions that drop from the notch
While someone is talking, captions hang from the MacBook notch with a small level meter and a red dot that tells you it’s listening. When they stop, the notch tucks away.
Prefer a window? The floating glass panel goes wherever you drag it, and can be pinned above everything else.
Them …and the second half of the lecture covers how filters shape a signal over
Pinned
ThemLast week we looked at sampling.
ThemToday: filters, and why they matter.
Every session, searchable
Sessions are saved to History on your Mac. Search across all of them to find the moment someone mentioned the thing you need.
pricing
Beta planningToday, 10:02 · 38 min“…let’s keep the pricing page out of the beta for now…”
Weekly syncSep 28 · 52 min“…the pricing survey closes on Friday…”
Podcast, ep. 112Sep 22 · 1 h 14 min“…how indie apps think about pricing…”
Take it anywhere
Export a session as Markdown or plain text, as SRT or VTT subtitles with timings, or send it to Apple Notes with the recorded audio attached.
Pick a format to see the same short session exactly as the app writes it.
# Beta planning _2026-10-01 10:02_ **Them** `10:02:01` Okay, so the beta goes out on Thursday. We collect feedback over the weekend. **You** `10:02:08` Sounds good. I'll write up the release notes tonight. **Them** `10:02:12` Can someone send the recording to the design team? **You** `10:02:16` Already saved. I'll export it to Notes with the audio.
Apple Notes · the same session as a note, with the recorded audio attached
Summaries and questions, with the AI you choose
Summarize a session or ask it something. Choose a provider to see where the text goes, what you need to set it up, and the kind of answer you get. Audio is never sent to any of them.
Stays on your MacNothing leaves your Mac. The transcript is read by Apple’s model on this Mac.
What you need
- Nothing to set up: it’s part of macOS on Macs that support Apple’s on-device model.
StatusAvailable on this Mac
Summarize
Summary
A short planning call about the beta. It ships Thursday, and feedback is gathered over the weekend.
Key points
- Beta goes out on Thursday
- Feedback is collected over the weekend
- The call was recorded
Action items
- You: write up the release notes tonight
- Send the recording to the design team
Find the engine that hears you best
Choose Apple Speech or Whisper in three sizes: Low (145 MB), Medium (216 MB) or High (632 MB), each downloaded the first time you use it. Not sure which? The wizard has you read a passage aloud once, runs every engine on that same recording, and scores each transcript against the passage. Press Record to watch an example run.
Find the engine that hears you best
Read the passage aloud once. Every engine transcribes that same recording, so you can compare accuracy and speed side by side.
Thanks everyone for joining. Before we start, a quick update: the Thursday review moved to Monday morning, and Priya will share the budget summary by Friday. Our main question today is whether we can ship the new onboarding flow before the end of the quarter without cutting the accessibility work.
Simulated here: this demo never uses your microphone.
Apple Speech
Built into macOS. Fastest and lightest; nothing to download for English.
Whisper Low
Small and quick. 145 MB download.
Whisper Medium
More accurate, a little slower. 216 MB download.
Whisper High
Most accurate, handles accents and mixed languages best. Uses more power. 632 MB download.
More than one language in the same conversation
Set Language to Auto-detect with a Whisper engine and it works out the language of each phrase on its own, so captions can follow a speaker who switches mid-conversation. Whisper High is the model designed to handle accents and mixed languages best. An engine set to a single language hears everything as that language.
Apple Speech can also switch between languages you list, checking sentence by sentence when the words stop making sense.
One speaker, two languages
Whisper High Auto-detect
- ENSo the launch is still on track for next week.
- ESPero todavía falta revisar las traducciones.
- ENSorry, I mean the translations still need a review.
- ESMarta puede hacerlo el lunes por la mañana.
One language English only
- ENSo the launch is still on track for next week.
- ENPetal toddy via fault are visa large traditions.
- ENSorry, I mean the translations still need a review.
- ENMartha played the cello loonies poor lot man Anna.
Live translation
Follow along in your own language: the translated line appears right under the captions as people speak.
Them Okay, so the beta goes out on Thursday.
Bon, la bêta sort jeudi.
Plays nicely with Bartender
If Bartender is using the space around the notch, Live Transcript steps aside: a slim listening line shows under the notch, and captions open in a panel just below it.
Them That’s the last slide. Questions?
00:02:20,310Plans
Buy a version, or every version.
Every edition has every feature. Pick how many Macs, and whether you want this version or all of them.
Personal
3Macs at once
- This version$10
The current version and every update to it. Free upgrade if the next version arrives within a year.
- Lifetime updates$50
Every version, now and later.
One-time payment, in US dollars. Buying opens on release day.
Business
10Macs at once
- This version$25
The current version and every update to it. Free upgrade if the next version arrives within a year.
- Lifetime updates$75
Every version, now and later.
One-time payment, in US dollars. Buying opens on release day.
How versions work
- You buy a version. It’s yours to keep, with every update to it.
- A version lasts at least a year. A new version comes when a new macOS brings features that warrant one.
- A new version within a year is free. If the next version arrives within a year of your purchase, you get it too.
- Lifetime covers every version, now and later.
- Installs are reusable. Personal covers 3 Macs and Business 10. Unregister a Mac in the app or on the account page and the install is free for another Mac.
A license is just a key. No account, no name. Your license is checked on your Mac, so it doesn’t need a connection to keep working day to day.Already have a key? Manage your installs.
00:02:58,000Questions
Short answers.
Does my audio go to a server?
No. Speech is turned into text on your Mac by Apple Speech or Whisper. Only if you ask a cloud AI provider for a summary does transcript text leave your Mac, and only to the provider you picked.
Which Macs does it run on?
Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 26 or later.
I got a new Mac. How do I move my license?
Deactivate the old Mac from the app, or unregister it at the account page, then activate the new one. The install is free again straight away.
What happens when a new version comes out?
The version you bought keeps working, with all its updates. If the new version arrives within a year of your purchase, your license covers it too. With lifetime updates, every version is covered.
I lost my key. Can I get it back?
If you added a recovery email, use “Lost your key?” on the account page and we’ll email you a replacement. If you didn’t, it may still be recoverable: contact Tech on Tires, LLC through the contact page at on.tires with the date you bought it and your payment receipt. Never send card details.
When can I download it?
Soon. The download button on this page will start working on release day.
More in the docs and FAQ, and exactly what’s stored in the privacy notes.
Not out yet. Nearly.
There’s no mailing list to join: we don’t collect email addresses for marketing. Come back to this page; on release day the download button will work.