Yakki is a Mac dictation app that turns spoken words into text in the app where they are needed, including Slack, Mail, Notion, Linear, and other Mac applications. It also transcribes audio from meetings, podcasts, interviews, videos, and other sources playing on the computer. A companion iPhone version is also available.
What Stands Out
Yakki combines fast, system-wide dictation with local processing. Standard dictation and transcription run on the Mac, while its Meeting Intelligence feature can send transcript text to cloud providers for analysis unless the Only Local mode is enabled. That distinction makes Yakki relevant both for everyday voice input and for users who need to choose between local-only processing and AI-generated meeting analysis.
Key Features
- System-wide dictation: A global hotkey works in any app. Users can hold to record and release to transcribe, with a customizable shortcut.
- On-device transcription: Dictation and transcription are processed locally on the Mac, with no cloud or server required for those functions.
- Audio capture from Mac apps: Yakki can capture audio from sources such as Teams, Zoom, Safari, podcasts, and other applications playing on the Mac.
- Imported audio transcription: MP3, WAV, M4A, OGG, and WebM files can be imported for transcription.
- Multilingual dictation: The app supports more than 25 languages and allows switching between languages without changing settings or restarting.
- Context-aware writing: Yakki adjusts to the app or writing context, such as Mail, Obsidian, or Slack.
- Automatic cleanup: Filler words, repetition, and false starts can be removed before the text appears.
- Speaker identification: Recordings can be transcribed with speakers automatically identified and labeled.
- Searchable history: Previous dictations can be searched and replayed with their audio.
- Meeting Intelligence: AI can extract summaries, key points, decisions, action items, and topics from meeting recordings.
Use Cases
- Dictating messages, emails, notes, and documents across Mac applications.
- Transcribing Zoom or Teams meetings without adding a participant to the call.
- Turning podcasts, videos, voice memos, and recorded interviews into searchable text.
- Reviewing meetings through speaker-labeled transcripts and extracted action items.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Yakki process dictation locally?
Yes. The product states that dictation and transcription take place on the Mac without sending the data to the cloud or servers.
