FAQs
Common questions.
Things that come up often about Parakeety, the local Mac dictation app, with proper answers. If you've hit something that isn't here, please drop me a note and I'll add it.
Parakeety says it can't reach the server.
Transcription itself runs entirely on your Mac, but Parakeety does make one network call to validate your trial or license with my server. If a firewall, VPN, or app-level blocker like Little Snitch denies that call, you'll see "Couldn't reach server" in the menu bar, and push-to-talk won't fire while Parakeety is in that state.
To fix it, allow Parakeety to make outgoing connections in whatever's blocking it. Little Snitch will show you the destination when it prompts about Parakeety, so you can just click Allow when that pops up. Then do any one of the following:
- Click Retry now in the menu bar dropdown.
- Open Settings and click Try again next to License.
- Open Settings and paste your license key, then click Activate. The activation call doubles as a retry.
If you've already unblocked it and left Parakeety running, it'll also auto-retry every 30 seconds on its own while it's stuck, so you don't have to babysit it. Pop the Mac to sleep and back, switch wifi networks, or come back to the app from another window, and Parakeety will retry then too.
I'm holding § and nothing happens.
A few things gate push-to-talk. Run through these in order:
- Has the model finished loading? First launch downloads about 600 MB. The menu bar dropdown will say "Loading model..." while that's in progress.
- Has Parakeety reached the server? If the menu bar reads "Couldn't reach server", see the question above. Push-to-talk is paused while Parakeety can't confirm your trial or license.
- Are microphone and accessibility permissions granted? Settings shows "Granted" next to each when they are.
- Is your keyboard ISO or ANSI? Parakeety listens for both § (the key below Esc on UK and most European layouts) and ` (the key below Esc on US layouts). One of those should fire on your hardware. If a tool like Karabiner is remapping that key, it'll intercept the press before Parakeety sees it.
- Is Dev mode on? With Dev mode enabled, a quick tap types the key instead of recording. You have to hold it a beat longer to start dictation. If presses keep typing § or backtick rather than recording, you're tapping too fast, or you wanted Dev mode off.
Can I change the push-to-talk key?
The key itself is fixed: Parakeety listens for either § (ISO/UK keyboards) or ` (ANSI/US keyboards), whichever sits below Esc on your hardware. What you can change is what a press does. If you also use that key for typing, turn on Dev mode in Settings and a quick tap types the character while a longer hold dictates. The Dev mode walkthrough covers it.
I use the backtick (or §) key for coding. Can I still type it?
Yes, with Dev mode. By default Parakeety holds that key for as long as it's running, so you can't type § or backtick while it's open. Turn on Dev mode in Settings and the key does both jobs: a quick tap types the character as normal, and holding it past a short beat (about a fifth of a second) starts dictation. Release to paste.
Shift plus that key, the tilde on US layouts, was never caught either way, so it always typed fine. Dev mode is off by default, so leave it off if you never reach for that key. The longer version, including why the key behaves this way, is in Dev mode: keep typing the backtick key while you dictate.
Which model does Parakeety use? Where does my audio go?
Parakeety uses NVIDIA's Parakeet TDT 0.6B v3 model, running entirely on your Mac through Apple's CoreML. Your audio never leaves the device.
The only network call Parakeety ever makes is to my license server, to validate your trial or license. That call carries a hashed machine identifier plus your license status. Your audio, your transcripts, and the contents of your clipboard are never uploaded, never logged, and never sent anywhere. If you want the longer version of how that contrasts with cloud dictation tools, Does Wispr Flow run locally? covers it.
Does Parakeety work in other languages?
Yes, across 25 European languages, auto-detected. Parakeet TDT 0.6B v3 covers English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Slovenian, Greek, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Russian, and Ukrainian. The model picks up which one you're speaking by itself, no setting to change.
Languages outside that list, including Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Turkish and Hebrew, are not supported at the moment. Wider coverage will roll in as a free update if a multilingual successor model becomes practical to ship.
Parakeety isn't showing up in the Accessibility list. How do I add it?
In System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, Parakeety should appear in the list with a toggle. If it doesn't, you can add it manually: open a new Finder window, go to Applications, and drag the Parakeety icon straight onto the Accessibility list. Alternatively, click the + button at the bottom of the list and choose Parakeety from the file picker.
Once it's in the list, flip the toggle on. That's the permission Parakeety needs to paste your transcript at the cursor (it synthesizes a Cmd+V keystroke into whichever app you're typing into). If you skip this, transcripts still land on your clipboard, but you'll have to paste them yourself.
Something's gone wrong. How do I report it?
Open Parakeety's Settings and scroll down to Contact me. Click Contact and the contact form opens in your browser. Describe what happened and send it over.
The same panel has an Open button next to Diagnostic log if you'd like to read the log file yourself. Pasting the relevant lines into the form helps me track the problem down faster.
Got a question that isn't here?
Send it to me through the contact page. If it's the kind of thing other people are likely to ask too, I'll add it here.