Install guide · macOS 14+

Install OpenVoiceFlow on macOS

Install OpenVoiceFlow by downloading the signed macOS DMG from this website. The app transcribes locally with on-device WhisperKit; if you turn on cleanup it sends only text to your chosen cloud LLM — OpenRouter (one key, any model), or OpenAI / Anthropic / Groq with your own key — or runs cleanup locally with Ollama, or you can leave cleanup Off. The MIT-licensed source is also public.

Download for macOSView source ↗

Fast path: DMG install

  1. Open the download page and pick Apple Silicon or Intel.
  2. Download the DMG from this website.
  3. Open the DMG and drag OpenVoiceFlow into Applications.
  4. Launch OpenVoiceFlow. First launch runs a one-time setup (~5 minutes: on-device WhisperKit model download) with a progress dialog — grant Microphone, Accessibility, and Input Monitoring permissions when prompted.
  5. OpenVoiceFlow appears in the Dock (click it any time to open the dashboard) and as a monochrome waveform menu-bar icon at the top-right. Prefer menu-bar only? Turn off Show in Dock in Settings.
  6. Click in any text field, hold the fn / 🌐 Globe key, speak, then release it to paste the transcription. You can change the key in Settings.
  7. Use the same menu to pause listening, change the dictation shortcut, open permission settings, or check for updates.

First-run onboarding

There is nothing to configure by hand. When you open OpenVoiceFlow for the first time, the built-in onboarding walks you through it:

  1. Grant Microphone access so the app can capture audio while you hold the hotkey.
  2. Grant Accessibility so the cleaned text can be pasted at your cursor.
  3. Grant Input Monitoring so the push-to-talk hotkey works in every app.
  4. Let the app download the on-device WhisperKit speech model (a one-time download).

Cleanup starts Off (raw on-device transcript). To enable it later, open the menu-bar settings and pick OpenRouter (or another cloud provider) with your key, or local Ollama. Keys are stored in the macOS Keychain.

Build the app yourself

The public GitHub repository is MIT licensed. Clone it and build the native macOS app from source (the Xcode project lives under native/); use the signed website-hosted DMG for the easiest install.

git clone https://github.com/shimoverse/openvoiceflow.git

Troubleshooting

  • If macOS still blocks launch, delete any older unsigned copy and re-download the current signed, Apple-notarized v0.4.3 DMG from this website.
  • If the waveform changes to a warning symbol, open Advanced in the menu and use the direct Microphone, Accessibility, or Input Monitoring settings links.
  • If transcription does not start, confirm microphone permission in macOS System Settings.
  • If paste fails, grant Accessibility permission to OpenVoiceFlow in System Settings.
  • If cloud cleanup fails, verify your OpenRouter key; OpenRouter uses its own key, not a provider-specific API key.
  • If you need a fully local flow, choose Ollama or leave cleanup Off.