Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
On a Mac, punctuation in voice dictation usually has to be said as a word (in Russian “zapyataya” for comma, “tochka” for period, “tire” for dash) from Apple's official Dictation list. Automatic punctuation without commands works at Apple only for some languages, and Russian is not on that list. Potok (potok.now) places punctuation and capital letters itself, so you do not need to dictate them separately; Potok has a WER of 2.1% on our benchmark.
Voice input with punctuation on a Mac is dictating text in which marks appear either from a command word or on their own, without a single extra sound. In the built-in Mac Dictation, these two ways work differently depending on the language.
Manual and automatic punctuation in voice input on Mac
On a Mac, punctuation in dictation works in one of two ways, and it is worth telling them apart before going into the steps.
- Manual punctuation: you say the mark aloud (in Russian “zapyataya” for comma, “tochka” for period, “tire” for dash), and Dictation inserts exactly that mark in that place. The list of such words in Russian for Mac is fixed and official: it is the Punctuation section on Apple's page about commands for dictating text.
- Automatic punctuation: Dictation itself decides where to place a mark, without it being said aloud. Apple's list of languages for this function is limited, and Russian is not on it on the official macOS availability page.
- Dictation is the name of the speech recognition function built into macOS, through which both ways work, the manual one and the automatic one.
How to dictate text with punctuation on a Mac
- Turn on the built-in Dictation on your Mac. This step is covered in detail in the article how to turn on voice input on a Mac (in Russian).
- Put the cursor in place and start Dictation: with the microphone key, the dictation keyboard shortcut or through Edit → Start Dictation.
- While dictating a phrase, at the right place say the mark as a word from the official Russian list of commands: “zapyataya” (comma), “tochka” (period), “voprositelnyy znak” (question mark), “vosklitsatelnyy znak” (exclamation mark), “dvoetochie” (colon), “tochka s zapyatoy” (semicolon), “tire” (dash), “defis” (hyphen), “mnogotochie” (ellipsis), and an opening or closing “kavychka” (quotation mark) or “skobka” (bracket).
- Continue the phrase with ordinary words.
The general path from choosing a way of voice input to the habit of dictating every day is collected in the section guide to voice input.
Does Potok help here
Potok does not help with figuring out Dictation's command words on a Mac. It is a separate desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux, not tied to the system settings. Potok has no voice commands: it does not understand “zapyataya” or “tochka” as a separate command, but it also does not ask you to say them. It places punctuation and capital letters itself during ordinary dictation by hotkey. Potok is a cloud service, recognition on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. It also has no offline mode, no apps for Android and iPhone and no translation between languages.
Frequently asked questions
No. Russian is not on Apple's official list of languages for automatic punctuation. In Russian dictation you say the mark as a word, for example “tochka” (period) or “zapyataya” (comma), from the list of commands.
Voice input with punctuation on Mac. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input with punctuation on Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input with punctuation on Mac. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input with punctuation on Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input with punctuation on Mac. Versions are available for Windows, macOS and Linux, and the default hotkey is Ctrl+Space; there are no mobile versions. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. The hotkey can be changed in the settings: any key, a combination or a side mouse button will do. Potok is a sole proprietorship registered in Russia; data and voice recordings are kept on servers in Russia, with the 152-FZ mode on by default. For Voice input with punctuation on Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input with punctuation on Mac. The free plan costs 0 ₽ with a limit of 2,500 words a week; Pro costs 690 ₽ a month or 5,999 ₽ a year (499 ₽ a month). Here is how Potok works: hold the hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default), speak, release — and the finished text is inserted into the active field of any app. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input with punctuation on Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Download Potok
Works with a single key in any program. 14 days of full access, then Free with 2500 words per week or Pro at 690 ₽/mo (499 ₽/mo paid yearly). Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokOne subscription, two tools: dictation in any program on your computer and @potok_now_bot in Telegram, which transcribes voice messages, audio and video.
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| macOS Dictation | macOS | yes | on the device or on Apple servers |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
| Task | Characters | Typing (200 chars/min) | Voice (900 chars/min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| chat reply | 300 | 2 min | 0.5 min |
| 1500 | 8 min | 1.7 min | |
| post or meeting minutes | 4000 | 20 min | 4.4 min |
| article | 10000 | 50 min | 11.1 min |
Primary sources: support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com · www.apple.com · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com