Apple Dictation (Safari)

Name: Apple Dictation (Safari)
Author: Apple

by Apple

System-wide dictation that works in every text field across macOS, iOS, and Safari.

TL;DR

System-wide dictation that works in every text field across macOS, iOS, and Safari.

Best for apple users who want on-device dictation that works in Safari and every native text field with no signup. Pricing: free (Apple device).

What it is

Apple Dictation is built into macOS and iOS and works in every Safari text field. On Apple Silicon devices, recognition runs fully on-device and supports continuous dictation. Triggered with the dictation hotkey (default fn fn).

Best for: Apple users who want on-device dictation that works in Safari and every native text field with no signup.
Watch out for: On-device only on newer Macs/iPhones; older devices send audio to Apple servers.

Install / use

System Settings -> Keyboard -> Dictation

Features

Speaker diarization	No
Word-level timestamps	No
Streaming / real-time	Yes
Languages supported	40
HIPAA eligible	No

Apple Dictation (Safari) vs Whipscribe

Feature	Apple Dictation (Safari)	Whipscribe
Category	Products	Transcription APIs
Pricing	free (Apple device)	free beta
Speaker diarization	No	Yes
Word timestamps	No	Yes
Streaming	Yes	No
Languages	40	99
Platforms	macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Safari	Web, API, MCP

Alternatives to Apple Dictation (Safari)

Otter.ai

Meeting-bot transcription product for Zoom/Meet/Teams.

free / from $10/mo

Rev

Human + AI transcription, highest accuracy tier on the market.

AI from $0.25/min · human from $1.50/min

Descript

Audio/video editor that treats the transcript as the timeline — different product category.

free / from $12/mo

Whipscribe is a managed faster-whisper + whisperX service. If you want transcripts without running infrastructure, paste a URL or drop a file in the form below — you'll have a transcript in seconds.