Install SpeechNet for Mac

About two minutes, start to finish. There's one extra click the first time, explained below.

Steps

1. Open the download. Double-click SpeechNet.dmg in your Downloads folder. A window opens.
2. Drag SpeechNet onto the Applications folder in that window. Then you can close the window and eject the "SpeechNet" disk in Finder's sidebar.
3. Open SpeechNet from your Applications folder.
4. The first time only: macOS says it can't verify SpeechNet. Click Done (not "Move to Bin"). Then:
   1. Open System Settings and choose Privacy & Security.
   2. Scroll down to Security. You'll see "SpeechNet" was blocked to protect your Mac.
   3. Click Open Anyway, type your Mac password, then click Open.
5. Setup starts by itself. Allow the microphone, and "Typing for you" (macOS calls it Accessibility). If the 🌐 key needs a change, setup shows you where. Then try it in the box it gives you.

Done. SpeechNet lives in the menu bar (a small waveform icon). Hold Fn anywhere, talk, let go.

Why the extra step?

Apple checks apps from known developers through a paid program called notarization. SpeechNet is new and made by one person, and these early versions aren't notarized yet. So macOS asks you to confirm once that you meant to open it. Notarized versions are coming, and then this step goes away.

You can check the file you downloaded is exactly the one we published. In Terminal, run shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/SpeechNet.dmg and compare it with:

see version.json

Updating

SpeechNet checks this website once a day and tells you when there's a new version, in the menu bar and on its Home page. It only asks which version is newest. It doesn't send anything about you. To update:

1. Quit SpeechNet (menu bar icon → Quit SpeechNet).
2. Download the new version and drag it onto Applications. Choose Replace.
3. Open it. Your history, dictionary and settings stay.

While SpeechNet isn't notarized, macOS may treat each update as a new app and ask for the microphone and "Typing for you" again. If typing stops working after an update: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, remove SpeechNet with the minus button, then open SpeechNet and allow it again.

Uninstalling

1. Quit SpeechNet from the menu bar.
2. Drag SpeechNet from Applications to the Bin.
3. To also remove your history and dictionary: in Finder choose Go → Go to Folder, paste ~/Library/Application Support/SpeechNet, and delete that folder.
4. Optional tidy-up: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and Microphone, and remove SpeechNet from both lists.

Stuck?

The support page covers the common fixes: Fn key does nothing, "Can't hear you", words going to the clipboard.