Help

Getting started

Requirements

Sotto needs macOS 13 or later. Apple Silicon Macs get the best performance, because the local models run on the Neural Engine.

Download and install

Download Sotto for macOS.
Open the downloaded Sotto.dmg and drag Sotto into your Applications folder.
Open Sotto from Applications.

First launch

Setup asks for Microphone access and lets you pick your input device.
Setup then asks for Accessibility access, which Sotto needs to paste transcripts into other apps. See macOS permissions.
Enter your license key. See Activating your license.
Open Settings → Models and download a transcription model. See Models & AI features.

Your first dictation

Set your shortcuts in Settings → General → Hotkeys: Toggle Recording (press once to start, again to stop) and Push-To-Talk (hold to talk). Toggle Recording defaults to ⌥S.
Click into any text field, start recording, speak, and stop. By default the transcript is pasted into the active app and copied to your clipboard.
You can also start and stop recording from the Sotto menu bar icon.

Activating your license

Where your key comes from

After you buy Sotto, your license key is sent to you by email. Purchases are processed by Polar, which also sends your receipt.

Entering your key

Open Sotto. If it isn’t activated yet, it shows the License Required screen.
Paste your key into the License Key field and click Activate License.

Activation checks your key with our licensing service at releaseflow.net, so you need an internet connection to activate. Your license status is shown in Settings → About → License and in the License menu of the Sotto app menu.

Device limit

One license covers 3 device activations: you can use Sotto on up to 3 Macs. All future updates are included.

Moving your license to a new Mac

On the old Mac, open Settings → About → License and click Deactivate (or use License → Deactivate License… in the app menu). This frees that activation; you can reactivate later.
Install Sotto on the new Mac and enter the same key.

No longer have the old Mac? Manage your license and activations in the license manager.

Common license messages

“Invalid license key. Please check and try again.” Copy the key again from your purchase email, without extra spaces.
“This license key has reached its activation limit.” The key is already active on 3 Macs. Deactivate one of them, or free an activation in the license manager.
“Could not reach the license server.” Check your internet connection and try again. If Sotto was already activated and can’t reach the license server, the menu bar shows “License check unavailable” and when the grace period ends.

macOS permissions

Regular dictation only needs Microphone and Accessibility. You can check every permission in Settings → Permissions, which shows its status and an Open System Settings button.

Microphone

Records your voice for dictation and transcription. Sotto asks for it during setup; if you declined, turn Sotto on in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone. Pick your input device from the menu bar icon or in Settings → General.

Accessibility

Pastes transcripts into other apps and lets Escape cancel recording globally. Without it, auto-paste can’t work.

Sotto isn’t in the Accessibility list: use the floating guide to drag Sotto into the list, or click the + button and add Sotto manually, then restart Sotto.
Already enabled in System Settings, but Sotto still can’t paste: the permission may be tied to an older build. Click Repair Permission in Settings → Permissions and grant access again. To do it by hand: remove Sotto from Accessibility settings, add it again, then restart Sotto.

Optional permissions

These are only used by Assistant tools and system integrations, not by dictation: Screen Recording, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Notifications, Automation and Full Disk Access. macOS grants Automation separately for each app Sotto controls; if a tool fails, enable Sotto for that app in Automation settings.

The shortcut doesn’t work

“Secure Input is on in …” in the menu bar: another app is using secure keyboard entry (for example a password field), so modifier-key shortcuts can’t be detected. Key-combination shortcuts keep working. Leave that app’s password field, or use a key-combination shortcut.
“Hotkey needs attention” in the menu bar: a configured hotkey isn’t registered. Click Retry Hotkeys (also in Settings → General → Hotkeys), or pick a different shortcut.

The transcript doesn’t paste

Check that Accessibility is granted (see above) and that Auto Paste Transcript is on in the menu bar.
If a slow app pastes your old clipboard instead of the transcript, increase Clipboard restore delay in Settings → General.
With Auto Copy Transcript on, the transcript is also on your clipboard, so you can paste it with ⌘V. You can copy the latest transcript again from the menu bar.

Models & AI features

Local models (offline)

Local models run entirely on your Mac using Apple’s Neural Engine. Each one is a one-time download; after that, dictation works with no internet connection and your audio never leaves your Mac. Download and select them in Settings → Models.

Whisper (WhisperKit): Tiny (~66 MB), Base (English, ~105 MB), Small (English, ~330 MB), Distil Large V3 (~800 MB), Large V3 Turbo (~954 MB).
NVIDIA Parakeet: Parakeet v2 (English, 2.6 GB) and Parakeet v3 (25 European languages, 2.7 GB).

Cloud transcription (optional)

Cloud models need no download, but they need an internet connection and your own API key for that provider: OpenAI, Groq, Grok (xAI), Deepgram Nova-3, AssemblyAI or Cartesia Ink. You can also use a custom OpenAI-compatible endpoint (the key is optional if your endpoint doesn’t need one). Audio you transcribe with a cloud model is sent directly from your Mac to that provider, and any usage fees are billed by the provider to you.

You can re-transcribe any saved recording with a different model.

AI features

AI Functions and the Assistant (rewriting, summaries, titles and similar) are optional and use the provider you pick in Settings → Providers:

With your own API key: OpenAI, OpenRouter, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Groq, Mistral, Grok (xAI). The text being processed is sent directly from your Mac to that provider.
Local, no API key: Ollama or LM Studio running on your Mac.
CLI Agents, no API key: Codex, Claude Code, OpenCode, Grok and Cursor Agent CLIs installed on your Mac are detected automatically and use their own sign-in.

Troubleshooting

Sotto hangs or freezes

Quit Sotto and open it again (use Force Quit if it won’t quit). Freezes and crashes send a technical report automatically, without your audio or transcript text. If it keeps happening, email support with your Sotto version and build from Settings → About.

The menu bar icon is missing

The menu bar icon appears after you finish setup.
Open Sotto from Applications or the Dock to bring up its window, then go to Settings → General → Appearance and set Show app in to Menu bar and Dock or Menu bar only.

No audio or the wrong microphone

Choose the right input device from the menu bar icon or in Settings → General, and check that Microphone access is granted.

Updates

Sotto updates itself. Use Check for Updates… in the Sotto app menu, or Settings → About → Version & Updates, which shows your version and build and has Check for Updates / Install Update….
Update channel: Stable (public releases only) or Nightly (early builds for testing).
If you see “Manual update required to enable in-app updates.”, click Open Downloads and install the latest version, or download it here.
What changed in each release is in the changelog.

Refunds & billing

Sotto is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. Purchases are processed by Polar, our merchant of record, which handles sales tax and VAT and sends your receipt.
Refunds, from our Terms of Service: “If something is wrong with your purchase, email [email protected] from the email you used at checkout and we’ll sort it out. Approved refunds are issued through Polar.”
Licenses for teams: Sotto for teams.

Contact

Email support at [email protected]. Include your Sotto version (Settings → About), your macOS version, and for license questions the email you used at checkout.