ULTRATALK

Changelog

What shipped.

Every release, on the record. New features, improvements, and the occasional course correction.

A dictionary that learns your words.

UltraTalk now suggests dictionary words from your own dictation and corrections, and lets you add a word from other apps through the macOS Services menu. What it learns is kept in a file on your Mac.

New

  • Vocabulary suggestions: UltraTalk notices names and terms you repeat, corrections you speak, and edits you make in the Library, then offers them as suggestions in Settings > Output. Nothing is added to your dictionary until you accept a suggestion.
  • Add a word from other apps: select a word or short phrase, right-click, and choose Services > Add to UltraTalk Dictionary. This works in apps that support macOS text Services; some show Services only in their menu bar. If notifications are allowed, one confirms the result.
  • Control over what is learned: Settings > Privacy shows the words UltraTalk has noticed. Delete a word, copy the memory as JSON, clear it, or turn learning off. Learning is on by default, including after this update.

Improved

  • Suggestions are easier to notice: a small notice in Settings, a count on Output, and a menu-bar item show when suggestions are waiting. UltraTalk can also notify you once, when your first suggestions are waiting and Settings is not in front.
  • Dictionary library: an entry updates its usage count and moves up as you use it while Settings is open, and rows move with calmer, consistent motion.

Privacy

  • The vocabulary memory is text only and stays in its own file on your Mac. UltraTalk never uploads that file and never adds it to a diagnostic report. Separately, the logs in a diagnostic report can contain short excerpts of your dictation and dictionary words. We added these details to the Privacy Policy. We also corrected the policy where it was out of date: it now states that the app checks for updates automatically, that model setup can download runtime components, that diagnostic logs can contain short excerpts of dictated text, and that notifications are optional.

Updating

  • On beta.6 or newer, use Settings > About > Check for Updates. Otherwise, download the DMG, quit UltraTalk, and replace the app in Applications. Your Library does not need to be reset. This public beta supports Apple silicon Macs running macOS 13 or later.

Less memory between notes. Clearer control while you dictate.

This release reduces idle model memory, improves microphone recovery, and makes model setup and dictionary support easier to understand.

Improved

  • Lower idle memory: Whisper and Distil-Whisper release their loaded model after two minutes without dictation. Parakeet MLX also releases idle worker resources. Your model selection stays in place, and a previously prepared model can reload while recording begins.
  • Whisper Medium on Apple silicon: a targeted inference optimization improves transcription speed. Other Whisper sizes keep their existing attention settings.
  • Your microphone choice stays yours: a manually selected microphone is not silently replaced when it disconnects. Clear recovery messages explain how to reconnect or choose another input. Auto can follow your macOS input preference, including a Bluetooth microphone.
  • Clearer model controls: the model catalog separates engine labels, shows installed storage, and explains dictionary support. The book icon marks models that use dictionary hints or guidance during recognition; all models can apply matching corrections afterward.
  • Refined menu-bar icon: the tray icon has clearer proportions and visibility alongside other menu-bar items.

Fixed

  • Parakeet MLX setup and repair: UltraTalk prepares its own private runtime, without a separate Python or Homebrew installation. Model readiness refreshes after setup or repair, so a restart is no longer needed to clear a stale Repair state.
  • Dictionary and cleanup: recognition hints and conservative name corrections work together more consistently. Polish cleanup handles repeated fillers and long notes more carefully, with a complete-transcript fallback when a rewrite cannot finish within its time budget. Off and Code modes preserve their existing cleanup boundaries.

Updating

  • On beta.6 or newer, use Settings > About > Check for Updates. Otherwise, download the DMG, quit UltraTalk, and replace the app in Applications. Your Library does not need to be reset. This public beta supports Apple silicon Macs running macOS 13 or later.

Setup that keeps you moving.

UltraTalk now makes model downloads and hotkey testing easier to follow, recovers cleanly after permission restarts, and takes you straight to the controls for each downloaded model.

Improved

  • Clearer download progress: setup gives the download action and current status more visual weight, and distinguishes a completed transfer from the preparation work that follows.
  • Download-ready notifications: when a speech or Polish model finishes, UltraTalk can notify you through macOS and keeps a ready message inside Settings so the result is not easy to miss.
  • Direct model shortcuts: View speech model and View Polish now open the exact downloaded model or output control instead of dropping you at the top of a Settings section.
  • Hotkey testing in view: the setup test keeps its result and next actions visible, with scrolling that follows the current step on shorter screens.

Fixed

  • Permission-restart recovery: model downloads and setup state recover after the app restarts for macOS permissions, so returning to setup no longer strands the download flow.
  • The selected model is actually ready: after a transcription model finishes downloading, UltraTalk prepares that model for the next recording instead of leaving an older fallback active.
  • More predictable recording controls: the onboarding recording test responds consistently to the configured press-and-hold shortcut and makes the manual stop control clear.

Updating

  • On beta.6 or newer, update from Settings > About. On older builds, download the latest DMG, quit UltraTalk, and replace the app in Applications. A normal update does not require Reset UltraTalk or deleting your Library.

Update checks that keep checking.

UltraTalk now checks for updates again while the app stays open, instead of only checking after launch. Downloads and restarts remain your choice.

Fixed

  • Background update checks: after setup, UltraTalk periodically checks whether the daily update check is due. You no longer need to quit and reopen the app to get another automatic check.
  • A quiet daily cadence: automatic requests wait at least 24 hours after your last check, including a manual check or failed attempt. Once due, the next request can take up to five more minutes while your Mac is awake and the updater is available.

You stay in control

  • When a newer version is found, the existing Settings indicator leads to About. UltraTalk does not automatically download, install, or restart. You can still use Settings > About > Check for Updates whenever you want.
  • On beta.6 or newer, update from Settings > About. On beta.5 or earlier, use the latest DMG, quit UltraTalk, and replace it in Applications. A normal update does not require Reset UltraTalk or deleting your Library.

Beta testing status

Signed-app automatic checks passed local testing. Broader sleep/wake, interrupted-download, and recovery testing is still in progress.

Updates that wait for you.

Finish dictating, then update when you are ready. This release fixes a blocked update restart, adds a quiet update indicator in Settings, and includes the starter speech models in the installer.

Fixed

  • Restart after dictating: a finished dictation no longer leaves the updater thinking you are still recording. Download an update in Settings > About, finish your work, then choose Restart UltraTalk. Recording, transcription, and other active work still block a restart.
  • Starter models included: the installer now includes verified Whisper Tiny and Silero speech-detection models. Larger transcription models and optional engines may still need a download.

New

  • A quiet update indicator: Settings shows when an update is available, with a route to About to download it. You choose when to install and restart.

Updating from an older beta

  • On beta.5 or earlier: download the latest DMG from the Download page, finish your work, and quit UltraTalk. Drag UltraTalk into Applications and replace the old app. Do not use Reset UltraTalk or delete your Library to perform a normal update. Older builds may not have in-app updates or may block the restart after dictation.
  • On beta.6 or newer: use Settings > About > Check for Updates. Download an available update, then choose Restart UltraTalk when your work is finished. If no newer version is available, About reports that you are up to date.

A small installer follow-up.

Installer creation now retries when macOS is temporarily busy detaching the disk image. This release also provided the next signed build for testing in-app updates.

Improved

  • More dependable packaging: release tooling retries a busy disk-image detach instead of failing the build immediately.

Known issue

  • In-app restart can remain blocked after a completed dictation. This is fixed in beta.7. If you are on this build, use the latest DMG to update without resetting your data.

Updates, inside UltraTalk.

Settings > About gains update checks and downloads, with signature verification before installation and a restart you control. Earlier builds need a manual DMG install to get the updater.

New

  • Check and download in About: UltraTalk checks periodically for new builds on its release channel. You can also check manually, see download progress, and choose when to install and restart. Downloaded updates must pass signature verification before installation.

Known issue

  • A completed dictation can leave the update restart blocked. Use the latest DMG to move to beta.7 or newer; replacing the app does not require Reset UltraTalk.

A smoother path to your first word.

The installer, setup, and model status now stay in sync. Polish is ready when setup says it is, downloaded profiles show up correctly, and Reset UltraTalk is built into a sharper Mac installer.

Improved

  • A clearer Mac install: the DMG now carries UltraTalk’s branding, keeps the drag-to-Applications path in view, and includes Reset UltraTalk as a signed companion app.
  • Polish is ready when setup says it is: installing the Balanced profile during setup now prepares the on-device Polish engine and keeps it active, with no second download waiting in Settings.
  • Installed profiles reflect your Mac: Settings now counts profiles using the models they actually need, so Balanced appears installed when its backing model is already on disk.

Fixed

  • Either Continue works: on the input-device step, both Confirm and continue and the footer Continue button save your choice and move setup forward.
  • Reset survives the installer: Reset UltraTalk now runs as a signed app from the DMG, whether you want to keep your Library or erase everything and start over.

Changed

  • The installer window now stays at its intended size, with a sharper background, a custom UltraTalk volume icon, and no stray scroll space.

Press, speak, release.

Hold to Talk joins the regular toggle shortcut, with mode switching while you speak and clearer guidance when a press is too short. Library retention and first-run setup are more dependable, too.

New

  • Hold to Talk: choose Hold to Talk in Settings, hold your recording shortcut while you speak, then release it to transcribe. The regular press-once, press-again Toggle behavior stays available.
  • Switch modes mid-sentence: tap Shift while you keep holding the recording shortcut to cycle modes without ending the recording.

Improved

  • Clearer short-press recovery: release too quickly and UltraTalk now explains that Hold to Talk needs a longer press instead of showing a generic transcription failure.
  • Safer recording ownership: repeated key events, failed starts, and recordings begun from the tray or app controls no longer risk being stopped by an unrelated Hold to Talk release.
  • More dependable retention: successful transcripts stay saved even when cleanup needs another try, and unused audio is removed correctly in every retention mode, including Forever.
  • Smoother first run: model preparation begins earlier during setup, with clearer retry and recovery behavior when a download does not complete.

Changed

  • Pause and Esc-to-pause stay available in Toggle mode. They are intentionally unavailable during Hold to Talk, where releasing the shortcut is the finish action.

UltraTalk goes public.

Five months of private beta feedback, rebuilt into one release. New speech engines, a new recording pill, dictation that repairs itself when you misspeak, and the doors are open to everyone.

New

  • Modes: dictation that formats itself for the app you're in. Use the built-in modes or make your own, matched by app or website. Nothing is ever read from your screen.
  • The recording pill: a small glass capsule with a live waveform replaces the old overlay. Choose pill, panel, or menu-bar-only, drag it anywhere, and it remembers its spot on every display.
  • Say “scratch that”: correct yourself out loud and the false start disappears from the transcript.
  • Polish pass: an on-device engine restores punctuation and strips filler words before text lands, so what arrives reads like you typed it carefully.
  • Custom dictionary: teach UltraTalk your names, products, and jargon once. They come out right every time, in every app.
  • New engines: NVIDIA Parakeet and WhisperKit join Whisper, with Fast, Balanced, and Maximum Accuracy profiles to match your hardware.
  • Transcribe audio files: bring existing recordings and UltraTalk turns them into text, all on-device.
  • The Library: redesigned transcript history with pagination, a player for kept recordings, and retention you control: latest 100, 7, 30, or 90 days, or forever.
  • Guided setup: a new first-run flow walks through permissions and model downloads, and guided tours in Settings show you around.

Improved

  • Two-step Esc: the first press pauses, the second cancels. A stray keypress never discards a recording.
  • Smarter Bluetooth: UltraTalk avoids low-quality headset mics when a better input is available.
  • Voice detection: refined silence handling and no-speech detection mean fewer empty transcripts and cleaner starts.
  • Multi-display awareness: the overlay behaves correctly across fullscreen apps and multiple monitors.

Changed

  • The default hotkey is now ⌥D. Remap it to anything in Settings.
  • Builds are signed and notarized. The app runs on macOS 11 or later; Whisper models need macOS 13, Parakeet and WhisperKit need macOS 14 on Apple Silicon.
  • Diagnostics are fully user-controlled from Settings, Privacy: preview, export, or send. Bundles never contain your audio.

The first build leaves the lab.

UltraTalk's first release, sent to a small group of testers: on-device Whisper dictation from the macOS menu bar.

Included

  • One hotkey to dictate into any app, with insert-at-cursor or clipboard output.
  • Whisper transcription running entirely on your Mac. Models download once, then everything works offline.
  • A live waveform overlay with pause, resume, and auto-pause on silence.
  • Esc to cancel, and crash recovery that keeps interrupted recordings safe.
  • Microphone selection with automatic device monitoring.