I use dictation a lot for writing, notes, and prompting agents. After trying a bunch of dictation tools, I kept running into the same issues: recurring cost, unclear privacy/data handling, and not much control over how the final text was cleaned up.
So I built Utter.
The main idea is simple: it should work as both a fast dictation tool and a longer-form voice note / meeting capture tool, while still giving the user control over where processing happens and what the output looks like.
A few things it does today:
- global dictation with customizable shortcuts
- saved modes for different workflows, with different prompts/models
- remembers the last mode used per app
- meeting recording with speaker-labeled transcripts, summaries, and action items
- file transcription for audio/video
- saved audio/transcripts with export options
- prompt-based post-processing for turning raw speech into notes, messages, summaries, etc.
- built-in note editor
- iPhone app with dictation keyboard
A big motivation was being able to use it locally. It supports local transcription, optional local post-processing, BYOK, or cloud providers depending on the workflow. I also wanted phone-to-desktop capture to feel simple, so it syncs through iCloud and doesn’t require an account.
Curious to hear from people who use dictation heavily, especially on:
- where current dictation tools still fall short
- whether the “modes” idea makes sense in practice
So I built Utter.
The main idea is simple: it should work as both a fast dictation tool and a longer-form voice note / meeting capture tool, while still giving the user control over where processing happens and what the output looks like.
A few things it does today:
A big motivation was being able to use it locally. It supports local transcription, optional local post-processing, BYOK, or cloud providers depending on the workflow. I also wanted phone-to-desktop capture to feel simple, so it syncs through iCloud and doesn’t require an account.Curious to hear from people who use dictation heavily, especially on: