Voice typing in any app
Hold a key, talk, let go. Vurb types what you said into whatever app you're using — no special editor, no copying and pasting from a separate window.
Hold to talk, anywhere you can type
Voice typing works best when it's always one keypress away. With Vurb you click into a text field, hold your dictation key, and speak. A small pill shows it's listening. Let go and the text is typed at your cursor, in email, chat, documents, spreadsheets, browsers, terminals or code editors.
For longer passages, double-tap the key to dictate hands-free, then tap once to stop. If you start talking into the wrong window, press Esc before letting go and nothing is typed.
How it differs from built-in dictation
macOS and Windows include dictation of their own, and if it does what you need, use it. What Vurb offers is consistency and control: the same hold-to-talk key on Mac, Windows and Linux; local Whisper speech models you choose between; custom vocabulary for names and jargon; and a searchable history of everything you've dictated, with stats such as words per minute and time saved. See a fuller comparison.
Tips for dictating well
- Talk in whole sentences
- Whisper uses context to place punctuation and capitals. A complete thought comes out cleaner than a string of fragments.
- Hold, then speak
- Press the key a beat before you start talking and release just after you finish, so the first and last words are captured.
- Add your vocabulary
- Put names, product terms and acronyms in custom vocabulary so they're spelled your way every time.
- Let cleanup handle the ums
- Optional AI cleanup (your own Claude API key) removes filler words, fixes punctuation, and keeps only the correction when you change your mind mid-sentence. It never translates.
- Use hands-free for drafts
- Double-tap the key and talk through a whole section, then edit with the keyboard.
- Pick the right model
- Best is the most accurate and fast on Apple Silicon; Balanced is a good default elsewhere. Fastest is English only.
- Mind the microphone
- A headset or a decent mic close to you helps more than speaking slowly.
Voice typing in other languages
Vurb's multilingual models understand 90+ languages and detect them automatically, so you can switch between English and Spanish, for example, without changing a setting. It types what you said in the language you said it; it doesn't translate.
Questions about voice typing
Does voice typing add punctuation?
Whisper usually adds punctuation and capitalization from context. For tidier results, optional AI cleanup fixes punctuation and removes filler words using your own Claude API key.
Can I correct myself mid-sentence?
With AI cleanup on, saying something like “no wait, I mean Thursday” keeps only the correction. Without it, Vurb types what you said, and you can press Esc before letting go to start over.
Does it work in every app?
It types into whatever has focus, so it works in almost any app with a text cursor. If an app doesn't accept typed text, the dictation is still saved in your history to copy.
How is this different from my computer's built-in dictation?
Built-in dictation varies by operating system and version. Vurb works the same way on Mac, Windows and Linux: one key, local Whisper models you choose, custom vocabulary, and searchable history.
Related
Start voice typing
Free to start. macOS, Windows and Linux.