Dictation and keyboard¶

Dictating with Saelyx is free and has no counter. On the Mac you hold a key, speak and the text appears wherever your cursor is. On iPhone and iPad you dictate with Whisper Mode and the Saelyx keyboard.

Dictating on the Mac¶

1. Hold down the 🌐 (Fn) key.
2. Speak.
3. Let go. The clean text is typed into the app you are using.

You need the Accesibilidad (Accessibility) permission, as well as the microphone. On macOS 26 or later the transcription happens on your own Mac, with no network.

What your key does¶

• One tap wakes Saelyx; another tap puts it to sleep.
• Hold dictates while you press and Saelyx stays quiet. When you let go, it carries on as it was.
• With Saelyx asleep, the first dictation takes a moment to start and the beginning of the sentence may be lost. With Saelyx awake it types from the first word.

Shortcuts¶

Two work out of the box: the 🌐 key and the Option+Space combination. If you pick one in Ajustes → Atajos (Settings → Shortcuts), only that one remains: Tecla 🌐 (Globe) or Combinación personalizada (custom combination, with Grabar atajo to record it and Restablecer to reset it).

Other global shortcuts, which cannot be changed: ⌘⇧S starts or stops the session, ⌘⇧M mutes the microphone, ⌘⇧P pauses screen capture and ⌘⇧V switches voice.

Dictation settings¶

In Ajustes → Atajos:

If you use system dictation or another voice app on the same key, they can fire at once. To avoid it, in System Settings → Keyboard → “Press 🌐 key to” choose Do nothing.

Literal dictation and conscious writing¶

There are two more modes in which Saelyx types for you on the Mac:

• Type what you dictate, word for word. In Ajustes → Audio. It transcribes as is and types where the cursor is, without interpreting or rewriting.
• Modo Escritura Consciente (conscious writing mode). It is the switch on the home screen: Saelyx talks to you and types what you dictate. You ask for a message, it drafts it and types it where your cursor is; then it rereads the field and tells you what ended up written. It needs the Accessibility permission and does not coexist with Meeting Mode.

Dictating on iPhone and iPad¶

iOS does not let one app type inside another. That is why dictation uses the Saelyx keyboard and Whisper Mode: you dictate in Saelyx, the text comes out already clean (no filler words, punctuated and formatted) and you insert it where you are typing. The text is also copied so you can paste it.

Set it up, once¶

1. In Ajustes → Whisper, turn on Modo Whisper.
2. Press Configurar el teclado Saelyx (Set up the Saelyx keyboard): the guide walks you step by step through iOS Settings → Keyboards → Saelyx → Allow Full Access.

Use it¶

1. In any app, switch to the Saelyx keyboard by pressing the 🌐 key until you reach it.
2. Dictate.
3. Tap Insertar dictado (Insert Dictation).

Shortcuts to start dictating (iPhone)¶

• With Siri: “Start dictation with Saelyx” or “New dictation in Saelyx”.
• With the Shortcuts app and with the Action button.
• From Control Centre (iOS 18).
• With the Dictado rápido (Quick dictation) widget.

In Ajustes → Dictado on iPhone, Modo dictado (al pie de la letra) (literal dictation mode) makes Saelyx transcribe word for word and copy it to the clipboard, without speaking.

Requirements by version¶

If dictation does not type, see Troubleshooting and System permissions.

Reviewed on 29 Oct 2026 · Saelyx for Mac 0.10.196 · iPhone 1.1.40