FAQ
Questions, answered.
Anything we missed? Ask us directly.
Does Speakist work offline?
No. Transcription and polish run on our servers, so you need an internet connection. The trade-off is that the app stays small (under 30 MB) and we can use larger, more accurate models than anything that would run on a laptop battery. Latency is typically well under a second on a normal connection.
Which languages does Speakist support?
English is the default and gets our fastest model. Speakist also transcribes most major languages — French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, and dozens more — and we route to the right model automatically. The polish step is currently tuned for English; in other languages you still get accurate transcription, but punctuation and filler cleanup may be lighter.
Will it work in the apps I use?
Almost certainly. Speakist types text wherever your cursor is — Slack, Notion, Mail, Messages, browser inputs, terminal, code editors, even password fields if you really want. There's no per-app integration to install; if the app accepts typing, it accepts Speakist.
How is a “word” counted?
One word in the final transcript equals one word billed. Filler (“um,” “uh”), false starts, and repetitions that the polish step removes don't count — you only pay for the text that lands at your cursor. You can see your word count per dictation in the dashboard.
What happens when I run out of words?
Two options. If you turn on auto top-up, Speakist will refill your balance automatically when it falls below the threshold you set, up to a monthly cap you also control — so you never get a surprise bill. If auto top-up is off and your balance hits zero, dictation simply pauses until you top up manually. Either way, nothing runs without your consent.
Why hold-to-talk instead of a toggle?
Holding a key means you never accidentally start recording, and you never forget to stop. There's no “am I being listened to?” mode to track. It's the same reason walkie-talkies and intercoms have worked the way they have for a century — your hand is the indicator.
Does the iPhone keyboard see anything else I type?
No. The Speakist keyboard is a dedicated dictation surface — it has a push-to-talk button and that's it. There's no traditional QWERTY layout in the keyboard, so there's nothing to log even in principle. You switch to the Speakist keyboard when you want to dictate, then switch back to your usual keyboard for ordinary typing.
What about Windows, Linux, or Android?
Mac and iPhone for now. We're focused on making that experience really good. If you'd like to vote for another platform, email hello@brevoortstudio.com — we read everything.
Can I get a refund?
Credit purchases are non-refundable in general, but if you were charged in error, hit a long outage, or otherwise feel something went wrong, email hello@brevoortstudio.com. We review case-by-case and we'd rather you be happy than right about a clause.