Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
The official Russian list of Mac Dictation commands has no command for superscript or subscript, neither in the “Formatting” section nor in “Math symbols”. Potok (potok.now) does not execute voice commands. You dictate the formula in words and set the index with the keyboard after inserting: 2 steps instead of one. Voice editing on a Mac is in a separate feature, “Voice Control”.
A superscript is a character raised above the line, like the exponent of a number; a subscript is lowered below the line, like the digits in a chemical formula. You would like to say a formula in one phrase, but an index is text formatting, and dictation alone cannot produce it.
Why Mac Dictation has no command for an index
The official Russian list of Mac Dictation has no command for an index. The “Formatting” section lists “novaya stroka” (new line), “novyy abzats” (new paragraph), “chislo” (number), “rimskaya tsifra” (Roman numeral), “slitno” (no space), “razdelno” (spaced) and “klavisha Tab” (Tab key). The “Math symbols” section has “ravno” (equals), “bolshe” (greater than), “menshe” (less than), “minus”, the multiplication sign and “plyus” (plus). There is no index in either place.
Do not confuse them: the “uppercase” command from the “Capital letters” section has nothing to do with an index; it writes Every Word With A Capital.
Voice editing and formatting on a Mac is provided by another feature, “Voice Control”. It controls the Mac, dictates and edits text, and it has Russian. While it is on, the standard Dictation is unavailable.
How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a Mac: step by step
The way is this: you dictate the formula in words, and set the index with the keyboard after the text is inserted.
- Turn on Dictation: Apple menu → “System Settings” → “Keyboard” → the “Dictation” section → turn it on, then “Enable”.
- Place the cursor in the document and start dictation with the microphone key, if there is one in the row of function keys, with the dictation key combination, or through “Edit” → “Start Dictation”.
- Dictate the formula in words, for example: say “iks v stepeni dva, voda — ash dva o” (“x to the power of two, water: H two O”). Take the signs from the commands in “Math symbols”, and before a value that should become a number, say the command “chislo” (“number”).
- Finish dictating and select the character that should become an index.
- Format it as a superscript or subscript with the keyboard, using the tools of the app where the text is typed.
In Potok, steps 1–3 are replaced by a hotkey, Ctrl+Space by default: hold, speak, release. It writes numbers as digits by itself, and the index is likewise set with the keyboard. Other ways to dictate on a computer are collected in the article on typing text by voice on a computer (in Russian) and in the section with dictation instructions.
Where Potok will not help with indexes
Potok has no voice commands or voice editing, so raising a digit to a power or lowering it in a formula by voice through it will not work: the index is set with the keyboard after inserting. Potok is a cloud service, speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. If the audio was saved, the recording stays in the history and can be recognized again with the “Re-recognize” button when the connection returns. Potok has no apps for Android and iPhone, so you cannot dictate formulas from a phone through it.
Frequently asked questions
No. The command “verkhniy registr” (“uppercase”) from the “Capital letters” section writes Every Word With A Capital. The official Russian list of Mac Dictation has no command for superscript or subscript.
No, while Voice Control is on, the standard macOS Dictation is unavailable. The Voice Control feature itself controls the Mac, dictates and edits text by voice, and it has Russian.
How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a 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 How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a 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 How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a 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 How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a 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 How to write superscript and subscript by voice on a Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
If you want to compare for yourself
Take one of your own tasks and dictate it in Potok. The first 14 days have no limits and need no card. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokExisting recordings are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send a file or a YouTube, VK Video, RuTube, Instagram or TikTok link and the text arrives in the chat. The Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot too.
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.apple.com · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com