VasenevEA

VasenevEA / FastWord

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Local, private push-to-talk dictation for macOS. Hold a key, speak, release — your words appear in any text field. Runs entirely on-device via whisper.cpp with bundled multilingual model. No cloud, no telemetry, no paywall.

github.comVasenevEAFastWordreleaseslatest apple-silicon dictation local-ai macos open-source
32
3
100% credibility
Found May 13, 2026 at 32 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
Swift
AI Summary

FastWord is a free macOS menu bar application for push-to-talk dictation that processes speech to text entirely on-device using local models.

How It Works

1
💡 Discover FastWord

You hear about FastWord, a simple Mac tool that turns your speech into text right on your computer, keeping everything private without sending anything online.

2
📥 Download and install

Grab the ready-to-use file from the releases page, open it, and drag the app to your Applications folder like any other Mac program.

3
🔒 Grant quick permissions

The first time you launch it, your Mac asks for microphone, keyboard listening, and text insertion access – just click allow to get started.

4
⚙️ Pick your preferences

Click the menu bar icon to open settings, choose your hold key like right Option, pick your language, and tweak how it handles background sounds.

5
🎤 Hold, speak, release

Hold your chosen key, talk naturally into your mic, let go – watch your words magically appear in any text field you're using, like notes or email.

6
📜 Check your history

From the menu bar, open the history window anytime to see, search, copy, or delete your past dictations.

✨ Dictate anywhere, anytime

Now you can speak your thoughts effortlessly into any app on your Mac, with fast results, low memory use, and total privacy.

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Star Growth

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AI-Generated Review

What is FastWord?

FastWord brings push-to-talk dictation to macOS: hold a hotkey like Right Option, speak into any text field, release, and transcribed words appear at your cursor. It runs whisper.cpp entirely on-device with Metal acceleration for sub-second multilingual results—no cloud, telemetry, or subscriptions. The Swift app bundles a 520MB model in its DMG, supports auto-detect or 99 languages, and offers history search plus settings for hotkeys, cleanup, and RAM eviction.

Why is it gaining traction?

It crushes bloated alternatives like Wispr Flow, which guzzles 800MB idle RAM via Electron and charges $144/year for cloud transcription—FastWord idles at 125MB, stays native, and stays free under MIT. Developers dig the hackable sidecar for swapping ggml models, live preview during recording, and smart insertion via Accessibility APIs without clipboard spam. As a local private dictation tool akin to a fast word language service or local GitHub Copilot alternative, it delivers fast, offline voice-to-text without the privacy hit.

Who should use this?

Apple Silicon Mac users dictating code comments, emails, or notes in editors like VS Code or Xcode. Multilingual speakers handling English, Russian, or Mandarin workflows, or devs seeking a fastword meaning lookup via voice without cloud dependencies. Privacy-focused writers avoiding subscriptions for everyday push-to-talk in browsers or terminals.

Verdict

Grab the DMG for M1+ Macs if you dictate often—it's polished, private, and punches above its 32 stars with excellent docs and permissions guide. Low 1.0% credibility signals early maturity, so test thoroughly before relying daily, but it's a solid local dictation bet.

(198 words)

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