ParrotFlow vs Mac dictation

What Mac dictation does well

Mac dictation is already on your Mac. Turn it on in System Settings, under Keyboard, then Dictation. Start it with the Microphone key, a shortcut you choose, or Edit, then Start Dictation.

Apple lists more than 60 languages and regional variants. You can add several and switch between them with the Globe key. Dictation adds commas, full stops and question marks for you in supported languages. You can say punctuation, symbols, “new line” or “heart emoji”. When it is unsure of a word, it underlines it in blue, and you click it to pick another reading. On a Mac with Apple silicon, you can type while you dictate.

Apple’s feature page also lists “More advanced Dictation” with Apple Intelligence, for English. Apple’s Dictation guide does not say what it changes.

Where your speech goes

Apple says the text below Dictation in Keyboard settings tells you if your dictation is processed on your Mac. That note covers messages and notes, not a search box. When dictation is not processed on your Mac, it goes to Apple’s servers.

Apple’s privacy page adds the details. What you dictate to the server is not stored unless you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation. Request history, transcripts included, is tied to a random identifier that changes several times an hour, not to your Apple Account. Apple may keep it for up to two years. Your Mac may also send other data, such as contact names and the names of your apps.

ParrotFlow has no server. Speech recognition, vocabulary, rules and scripts run on your Mac, with no account and no API key. ParrotFlow uses the network to download each model once, and for a daily update check that you can turn off. The exception is a prompt step you add yourself. If it names a remote model, that model gets the text. See local dictation and offline dictation on a Mac.

Names and jargon

Apple’s Dictation guide does not describe a way to add your own words.

ParrotFlow learns a word when you correct it. Select the wrong word, hold the hotkey, say “hey parrot”, then save. Next time it writes the name. It matches the name by sound, then checks the sentence, so the ordinary word stays where it belongs.

ParrotFlow also spells names from what is on your screen. It reads the window you dictate into when you press the key, on your Mac. It does this in every app except password managers, Keychain Access and System Settings, and it never reads a password field.

See custom vocabulary and screen context.

Your own rules

Mac dictation has a fixed list of spoken commands. Apple’s list does not include a way to add your own.

ParrotFlow lets you add steps in config.yaml. A rule is a pattern and its replacement. A script is any program that reads stdin and writes stdout. A prompt asks a model you choose. Rules and scripts need no model.

Any step can carry app: /slack/, so it runs in Slack and nowhere else. See programmable dictation.

Languages and requirements

ParrotFlow supports English and French. Some of its repair passes are English only. It needs Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later, and about 2 GB of disk for the app and its models. If that rules your Mac out, Mac dictation is the better fit. Download ParrotFlow if it does not.

Voice Control is a different feature

Voice Control is an accessibility feature for controlling the whole Mac by voice. When it is on, standard Dictation is not available, and you dictate through Voice Control.

It has things Dictation lacks. You can add up to 1000 vocabulary terms. You can create commands for any app or for one app, which paste text, press a key or run a shortcut. Each command runs when you say its phrase. After a one-time download, Voice Control needs no internet connection.

Also see ParrotFlow vs Wispr Flow and ParrotFlow vs Superwhisper.