Free and already there
No installation, no account: dictation ships with macOS and you switch it on in System Settings.
Mac dictation
Your Mac can already take dictation. When is that enough, and when is it not?
The honest answer first: for a quick message, the built-in dictation is perfectly fine. The question is what happens to your text afterwards. WhispaWave does not hand you a verbatim transcript, it hands you finished text: polished, in the right tone, with your terminology.
No bashing: on this page we also tell you when you do not need WhispaWave.
Demo: WhispaWave turns the raw dictation “um so can you please uh check the offer again” into “Can you please check the offer again?”.
In short
What is macOS dictation, and what does WhispaWave do differently?
macOS dictation is the Mac’s built-in speech input: it turns spoken language into text, free of charge and without extra software.
WhispaWave is a dictation app for macOS, Windows, iOS and Android that keeps going after transcription: it polishes what you said into finished text with paragraphs, the right tone and your terminology, straight into the active field of any app.
The difference in one sentence: built-in dictation gives you the verbatim transcript, WhispaWave gives you the text you actually send.
What built-in dictation is good for
Fair is fair: the built-in tool has real strengths.
Fine for short messages
A quick reply, a note, a search phrase: for that, built-in dictation is often all you need.
Types where your cursor is
Speech lands in the active text field. For occasional dictation, that is convenient.
And if that is enough for you?
Then you do not need another app. Honestly. The rest of this page is for everyone who wants more from their writing.
Two screens compared: on the left, system dictation delivers only the raw transcript, lowercase, no punctuation, every um included. On the right WhispaWave polishes the same dictation step by step: First, punctuation and casing are restored. Second, disfluencies like “um” and “oh right” are removed where context allows — the “so” stays because it carries meaning here. Third, the text breaks into two paragraphs at topic boundaries. Fourth, spoken “first, second, third” snaps into a real 1-2-3 list. The finished document remains. The example then switches: the same raw dictation becomes a formal Gmail message and a casual WhatsApp message, while the system dictation on the left stays equally raw in every round.
Others hand you a raw transcript. WhispaWave hands you finished text.
Op 1Punctuation & casingPunctuation and casing are restored from the flow of speech — the step that makes a raw transcript readable at all.Păiș & Tufiș 2022 ↗
Op 2Disfluencies — context-aware“Um”, repetitions and self-corrections are smoothed where they hurt the text — particles that carry meaning stay.Shen et al., EMNLP 2023 ↗
Op 3Paragraphs at topic boundariesWhere a new thought starts, WhispaWave starts a paragraph — structure that measurably improves comprehension.Kobayashi & Kawashima, CHI 2019 ↗
Op 4Ordinals & listsA spoken “first, second, third” snaps into a real numbered list — including the colon and line breaks.
Auto-cleanup in four levels, from “exactly what you said” to “maximum polish”. Your original is never lost. More on the polish →
The most common objection
“I can transcribe in WhatsApp too, can’t I?”
True. Messengers, chat AIs and the microphone on your keyboard transcribe as well. What you get there is the verbatim transcript of your words: every “um”, every half sentence, all in one block.
WhispaWave has invested hundreds of hours in language research so your dictation becomes finished text: meaningful paragraphs at topic boundaries, a spoken “first, second, third” as a real list, filler words smoothed in context where it makes the text more readable. Never blanket-deleted.
The second difference: transcription in WhatsApp stays in WhatsApp. WhispaWave writes in every Mac app, with the same dictionary, the same style and your snippets.
Demo (German sample): a voice message is transcribed verbatim in the messenger: “ähm also hallo tobias kannst du das angebot für die mustermann gmbh bitte äh noch mal prüfen wär super danke dir”. WhispaWave turns the same dictation into the finished version: “hey tobias kannst du das angebot für die mustermann gmbh nochmal prüfen? wär super danke dir”.
Switch windows mid-recording.
You start in the browser, hop into an email and end up in a document. WhispaWave simply keeps recording: the text lands wherever your cursor last was.
Demo: recording starts in the browser, simply keeps going while switching to the email window and the document, and the dictated text lands in the last active field, here the document: “Quick note for the team: the offer is out, feedback from Ms Schöllgen is due by Friday, the delivery date is confirmed.”
What WhispaWave makes of your dictation
Everything here is shipping functionality, not a roadmap.
The polish
WhispaWave smooths fillers in context, turns spoken lists into real lists and starts new paragraphs at topic boundaries.
More about the polishYour style per app
WhispaWave detects the app category (private, work, email, other) and automatically matches style and address, from formal to very casual.
More about your styleYour terminology
A personal dictionary with three ways in: add terms manually, load an industry pack, or let WhispaWave learn from your corrections. Six industry packs bring your field’s correct professional notation.
More about the dictionarySnippets mid-dictation
Say a trigger phrase and the whole text block lands in your text: signature, calendar link, standard reply.
More about snippetsTranslation while dictating
German in, polished text out in the target language: between all polished languages, any to any, in real time.
More about translationConversation mode included
Record or import meetings: WhispaWave separates the speakers and delivers a structured summary. Base allowance in every plan, more hours with Pro+ (€25/month).
More about conversation modeWorks in every Mac app: hold Fn, speak, the text lands in the active field. Processing on servers in the EU.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Mac’s built-in dictation enough?
- For short messages, notes and search phrases: often yes. As soon as texts need to arrive finished, think emails, minutes or specialist documents, a dictation app that polishes what you said instead of writing it down verbatim starts to pay off.
- WhatsApp already turns voice messages into text. Why WhispaWave?
- The messenger’s transcription writes along verbatim and only works there. WhispaWave finishes your own texts: with paragraphs, the right tone and your terminology, in every Mac app. The reply in the chat, the email and the note in your document are all dictated with the same tool.
- Can I use Apple dictation and WhispaWave side by side?
- Yes. WhispaWave is its own app and changes nothing about macOS. You dictate by holding the Fn key, and every shortcut can be remapped. Built-in dictation stays untouched.
- Can I switch windows while recording?
- Yes. You start recording in the browser, for example, hop into an email and on into a document: WhispaWave simply keeps recording. The finished text lands wherever your cursor last was.
- Do I have to speak punctuation with WhispaWave?
- No. WhispaWave sets punctuation, capitalisation and paragraphs itself. You speak completely normally, with “um” and half sentences, and still get clean text.
- What does WhispaWave cost?
- The Free plan costs €0. Pro is €13 per month, and you can try it for 14 days for free, no credit card. Team is self-service at €13 per seat per month. A base conversation-mode allowance is included in every plan; more conversation hours come with Pro+ (€25/month) or Team+ (€25/seat/month). All prices incl. VAT.
- Does WhispaWave understand my terminology?
- Yes, in three ways: add terms to the personal dictionary manually, load one of the six industry packs, or let WhispaWave learn from your corrections. “Protect technical terms” additionally keeps your jargon from being corrected away during polish.
Try the difference on your next email
Start free and run WhispaWave alongside the built-in dictation. Keep whatever works better.
No credit card