How to dictate in any app
Tap the dictation keys, talk, and Koi types where your cursor is, in any Mac app. Voice commands, offline use, languages and how to stop, step by step.
Step by step
How to do it
- Move the pointer to the notch at the top of your screen. It opens on a row of Talk, Chat, Dictate, Record calls, Documents, Board and Calendar.
- Click one to start it. The Tools tab, top left beside Koi, holds Keyboard sounds, Idle screen, Teleprompter, Copy history, Transcribe, Explain a file, Translate a file, Read aloud and Expenses.
- Play a song in Spotify or Music: its artwork sits in the notch with bars beside it. Hover for a player with shuffle, previous, play or pause, next, the speakers and a line to scrub; its More menu opens the app or copies the song's link.
- Drag files from Finder up to the notch. It opens two spots: drop on AirDrop and pick who gets them in macOS's AirDrop window, or drop on Files Tray to keep them handy.
- Open the Tray tab, beside Koi and Tools, to see what you kept. Drag a file out into any app, Finder or the board, click it to open it, or right-click for Show in Finder and Remove from Tray. Clear empties the tray; your files stay where they are.
Good to know
Worth knowing
- On a Mac without a notch, Koi draws a small one of its own at the top of the screen.
- Top right in the open notch: the bug button sends a bug report or feedback, and the gear opens Settings (⌘,).
- Koi in the folded notch glows amber, then green, while a call is on, and turns red when your plan's Koi has run out: then Get more Koi shows in the notch. A red dot means a document you haven't read. An update waiting shows in the right wing: click it to update.
- While a permission Koi needs is missing, an amber What Koi is missing row shows in the notch.
- The notch stays where it is: it can't be dragged or resized.
- For a few seconds it widens when AirPods connect (with their battery), the charger goes in or out, or the volume changes. In Settings, Notch & tools, "AirPods, charging and volume" turns that off, and "Music in the notch" the music.
- The first time a song plays, macOS asks whether Koi may control Spotify or Music. Without it, the notch shows only the song, who it's by, and playing or paused.
- What's playing is held in memory to show in the notch, never stored or sent. AirDrop sends your files itself, never through Koi's server. The Files Tray keeps a link to each file on your Mac, never a copy, and holds up to 50; a file you delete leaves it by itself.
- While a call app has the microphone, Koi records a call or the teleprompter is on, the notch is left out of what you share or record.
Keep exploring
How to teach Koi your words, snippets and styles
Make Koi spell names your way, type a saved address when you say a phrase, and pick Casual or Formal for each app. All in Settings, Dictation, on your Mac.
How to talk to Koi
Tap the call keys once and talk: Koi answers out loud, looks at your screen, points, draws and fixes your writing. How a call starts, ends and what it sees.
How to type to Koi
Tap Control twice for Koi's chat box: type a question, get a written answer that sees your screen and selected text, and send saved prompts with a slash.