Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Voice input on Mac comes in two kinds: the system's built-in dictation, which you turn on in settings and which understands Russian, and separate hotkey programs like Potok (potok.now), which insert text into any app: by voice you get about 900 characters per minute against 200 when typing.
Voice input on Mac is a way to turn speech into text on Apple computers without using the keyboard. It works in two fundamentally different ways: through the system dictation built into macOS, or through a third-party program that catches a hotkey and inserts the recognized text into any open window. For people moving from Windows, or those who simply want to write faster, the difference between these ways decides what the experience will be like.
What voice input on Mac is, in simple terms
System dictation in macOS is turned on in settings, in the “Keyboard” section, and is started either with a special key or with a chosen shortcut. It recognizes Russian. For comparison, Windows voice input (Win+H) got Russian only in Windows 11, and Windows 10 has none at all. It types text where the cursor is, in the apps the system can see. There is nothing to install, and this is the main advantage of the built-in solution.
System dictation has a downside too: it does not remember specific terms, names and brands, and it does not see some apps and protected fields at all. A third-party app with a hotkey works differently: it hooks into the system at the input level and inserts text into any window, including mail, messengers and code editors, and its personal dictionary can be tuned to a specific professional vocabulary.
The choice between the solutions is sometimes affected by the hardware itself: on a Mac with an Apple Silicon processor and on Intel models, programs do not always behave the same way. This is a separate question worth checking before installing a particular program, especially if the Mac is not the newest.
Getting started technically is not hard either. System dictation is turned on once in settings, while a third-party program is installed and given permission once to access the microphone and macOS accessibility features. Without this permission no such program can insert text into other people's windows. After that, starting comes down to a single keyboard shortcut that you do not have to look for again each time.
All articles in this section, in Russian (34): potok.now/mac
The most common tasks
- set up voice input on Mac in system settings and choose a keyboard shortcut to start it, so you do not have to look for the menu item every time;
- dictate text in a specific app, such as mail, notes or a document, and check whether the program recognizes the right field;
- read about the nuances on laptops specifically in the article voice input on a MacBook (in Russian): it covers battery life and the microphone in a noisy place;
- set up Russian specifically in system dictation, with the steps collected in the article macOS dictation in Russian (in Russian);
- set up a personal dictionary for terms, names and abbreviations that the system or the program keeps recognizing wrongly, and fix them once instead of by hand every time.
Where Potok will not help
Voice input on Mac does not solve everything: Potok, like any cloud service, has its limits. Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and without the internet it does not work at all, even on the newest Mac. Potok has no mobile version for iPhone: the program is made for the desktop Mac, not for iOS, where the system has its own dictation.
Potok also does not understand voice editing commands like “delete the last word”; such edits are still made by hand. And for those who dictate rarely enough to fit into the free limit of 2500 words per week, the question of a paid plan does not arise at all.
Frequently asked questions
The built-in macOS dictation and cloud programs like Potok do not work without a network: recognition goes through the internet. Only separate local programs that keep the recognition model on the device work offline.
Not necessarily, if the built-in features are enough: system dictation can type in mail or notes. A separate program is needed if you want a personal dictionary for professional terms or insertion into apps that system dictation does not see.
Voice input 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 on Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input 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 on Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input 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 on Mac you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input 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 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.
Related software: terms compared
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| Diktuy | Windows, macOS | 30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever | 239 ₽/mo (Profi (monthly equivalent when billed yearly)); 2870 ₽/yr (Profi (year, billed in full)); 479 ₽/mo (Max (monthly equivalent when billed yearly)) | rubles directly (not confirmed) | cloud (the data center country is not disclosed on the website) (not confirmed) |
| Talkpad | macOS, Windows, Android | 2500 words/week on desktop, 1500 words/week on mobile, free forever; plus a 14-day Pro trial | $6/mo (Pro (billed yearly, $72/yr)); $8/mo (Pro (monthly billing)) | unknown (not confirmed) | cloud (the legal entity is registered in Australia; the website is hosted on Cloudflare; the exact location of the ASR servers is not disclosed in the privacy policy) (not confirmed) |
| Voisty | Windows, macOS | 5 minutes of transcription (to judge the quality) | $6.7/mo (Pro); $67/yr (Pro (year)); $99/one-time (Lifetime) | Visa/Mastercard/Amex cards, PayPal; whether Russian cards are accepted is not stated (not confirmed) | device (offline, local models such as Whisper Large V3 Turbo / NVIDIA Parakeet) |
| GigaType | Windows, macOS | free with no limits: open source under the MIT license (Copyright (c) 2026 Disrupt Builders), all features are available without payment | — | not needed: there are no paid plans | device (offline, Sber's GigaAM neural network) |
| Molvi | Windows, macOS | free forever, no accounts and no payment | — | not needed: the product is free; voluntary donations are accepted via Telegram Tribute or by card on the website, amounts are not fixed | device (offline; best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, otherwise a fast model on the CPU) |
| Lispr | Windows, macOS | 60 minutes of dictation per week for free; the key features (push-to-talk, translation, dictionary, local history) always stay free, without an account | $7.99/mo (Pro, monthly); $79/yr (Pro, yearly (from $44.90 with regional discounts)) | unknown (not confirmed) | cloud (USA; recognition is done by Groq, Inc.) |
| v2txt.ru | Windows, macOS | Start plan: 2000 words/week | 0 ₽/n/a (all of Pro is free until the end of 2026 (the regular Pro/Premium price after 2026 is not published on the website)) | rubles directly (Visa, Mastercard, Mir cards and T-Bank are accepted) | cloud (Russia) in online mode; offline mode processes on the device |
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 |
Primary sources: diktuy.ru · diktuy.ru · talkpad.ai · talkpad.ai · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com