watzon/pindrop

What it solves

Pindrop is a private, offline AI dictation app for macOS that converts speech to text without sending audio to the cloud. It eliminates the need for cloud-based transcription services by running models locally on Apple Silicon, ensuring user privacy and reducing latency.

How it works

The app runs as a menu bar utility using Swift and SwiftUI. It leverages several local transcription engines, including WhisperKit (for OpenAI Whisper via Core ML), Parakeet, SenseVoice, and Apple's own on-device speech stack. It can perform streaming dictation (showing words as you speak) and offline speaker diarization to identify different speakers in a recording.

Who it’s for

Users of macOS (14.0+) who need a high-quality, private dictation tool that integrates directly into their workflow, allowing them to insert text at the cursor or copy it to the clipboard across any application.

Highlights

• Local Inference: Supports multiple local models (Whisper, Parakeet, SenseVoice) for a balance of performance and accuracy.
• Privacy-First: Audio and transcripts are processed and stored entirely on the device.
• Workflow Integration: Features global hotkeys, push-to-talk, and direct text insertion into active apps via Accessibility permissions.
• AI Enhancement: Optional integration with Apple Intelligence, Anthropic, or Ollama to clean up transcripts.
• Advanced Tools: Includes a library for searching transcripts, a custom dictionary for jargon, and an MCP server for AI agent integration.