Dictation software for RSI

First, a word on your health

VocType is a writing tool, not a treatment. Repetitive strain injury is the name the NHS gives to pain in muscles, nerves and tendons caused by repetitive movement and overuse, and its advice starts with changing or cutting down the activity that causes it. For carpal tunnel syndrome, MedlinePlus suggests taking work breaks and varying your tasks, and notes that researchers are not sure typing causes it. If your hands hurt, see a doctor or a physiotherapist. Dictation can be one way to type less while you follow their advice.

Why the way you start recording matters

Many dictation apps record only while you keep a key pressed. That is quick for a short phrase, but for a long paragraph it means one finger holding a key for a minute or more, which is the kind of sustained pressure you may be trying to avoid.

VocType works the other way round:

1. Press Option + Space on a Mac or Alt + Space on Windows once and let go.
2. Talk for as long as you need, up to 30 minutes per recording. Your hands can rest in your lap.
3. Press the hotkey again, or Esc, to stop. The text is pasted at your cursor.

If two keys at once is awkward, set a single key instead. F5 and F6 work on their own with no modifier, and any function key from F1 to F24 can be the Record hotkey. See Record hotkey and shortcuts.

A setup that keeps typing to a minimum

• Pick a key you can press without stretching: a single function key, or a large key on an ergonomic keyboard or a foot pedal that sends a function key.
• Dictate whole paragraphs. Each start and stop is a key press, so say a full email or a full section, then fix it once.
• Every misheard name is a fix you have to type, so add names, places and work terms to the Personal Dictionary, and add word replacements for anything it keeps getting wrong.
• Each transcript is saved to History. If a paste fails, or you need the same text twice, copy it from there.
• English is the default language. You can also speak Urdu or Hindi and get English text. Pick Urdu → English or Hindi → English in Settings.

Three everyday jobs, by voice

1. Answering email

Open the reply, press the hotkey, and say the whole reply in one go. VocType never presses Return or Send, so you read it first. You might say:

Thanks for sending the draft. The first two sections look good. Could you add the budget figures to section three and send it back by Thursday?

2. Writing a long document

In Google Docs, Word or Notion, dictate a section at a time. Speaking in full sentences gives cleaner text than short bursts, and it means fewer presses of the hotkey.

3. Chat messages through the day

Slack and Teams messages are short but constant, and they add up to a lot of typing. Dictate each reply, then send it yourself.

VocType pastes into the app in front, so the same steps work almost anywhere. See the apps it types into and the details for each.

What VocType won't do

• It is not hands-free. You still press a key to start and stop, and you still move the cursor and click Send yourself.
• It does not control your Mac. It types the words you say. It does not open apps, click buttons or run commands by voice.
• It needs the internet. Every recording is sent to the cloud to be turned into text.
• Fair-use caps apply. Each plan has caps on dictation time. See limits.

Pick something else if

• You need to use your Mac without your hands. Apple's Voice Control is free and built into macOS. You speak commands to click, scroll and open apps, and you can dictate too. Talon is another option for full voice control.
• You dictate a few sentences a day. The dictation built into macOS is free and starts from a shortcut or the Microphone key. It stops after 30 seconds of silence. See VocType vs Apple Dictation.
• Your recordings cannot leave your Mac. Look at the apps that process speech on your Mac in our list of Apple Dictation alternatives.

Try it for a week of email

Download VocType for Mac and start dictating in any app. Setup takes a few minutes: see getting started. For other ways people use VocType, see all voice typing use cases.