Use cases
Private dictation for Mac
Updated July 2, 2026
Dictation is the fastest way to write, and the most personal data you can hand an app. Half-formed thoughts, names, numbers, the message you almost sent. Where that audio goes should not be a mystery.
June's dictation is built for that reality. Hold the fn key, talk, let go, and polished writing lands in whatever app you are using. Your audio routes to zero-retention models by default, and your dictation history stays on your Mac.
How it works
June's dictation is push-to-talk. Hold the fn key, speak, and release. June turns what you said into clean, punctuated writing and types it where your cursor is. For longer stretches there is a hands-free toggle, and recordings can run long without falling over.
It works in any app on your Mac: your email client, your editor, a chat box in the browser, a commit message in the terminal. There is nothing to integrate per app.
Writing that sounds like you
Raw transcription is not the goal. June cleans up filler, fixes punctuation, and applies the style you pick: standard, casual lowercase, or formal. You talk like a person and June writes it like you would have typed it.
What happens to your audio
We are precise about this because most dictation apps are not. When you dictate, your audio leaves your Mac for transcription and cleanup. June routes those calls to zero-retention models by default: nothing stored, nothing trained on. Your dictation history is stored on your Mac, not on our servers. OpenSoftware keeps only account, login, and billing records.
The pipeline is verifiable, not just promised. June is open source, and the backend that routes model calls runs in a TEE with cryptographic attestation. You can check what runs on our servers yourself.
More than a dictation app
June is a private AI workspace, so dictation comes with company: automated meeting notes, chat, and a local agent that can act on what you say. If dictation is how you discover June, the rest is already installed.
Frequently asked questions
The app and your dictation history live on your Mac, and audio is sent out for transcription and cleanup. June routes those calls to zero-retention models by default, meaning nothing is stored and nothing is trained on. If you need transcription that never leaves the device, see our Superwhisper comparison for the honest tradeoff.
Any app on your Mac. June types the polished text wherever your cursor is: email, documents, chat apps, code editors, browsers. There is no per-app setup.
Push-to-talk is the fn key by default: hold it, talk, and let go. There is also a hands-free toggle for longer dictation. You can change the shortcut in settings.
June is free to start. The Hobby plan includes dictation with the same privacy standard as Pro. Pro is $20 per month for higher usage across dictation, meeting notes, and the agent.
No. OpenSoftware never trains on your data, and the default zero-retention model routing means the providers June uses by default store nothing and train on nothing. Anonymized third-party models are opt-in.
Sources
Claims about other products come from their own public pages, checked on the date at the top of this page.
- June privacy details · storage, model routing, and retention claims
- June source code · MIT licensed app and backend
- Backend attestation · live TEE attestation you can check yourself
- OpenSoftware privacy policy · what OpenSoftware stores
More guides and comparisons
- AI meeting notes without a botJune writes structured meeting notes from your Mac's audio. No bot joins the call, and your recordings, transcripts, and notes are stored on your Mac.
- A local AI agent for your MacJune's agent runs on your Mac, not a company's cloud VM. Open-source Hermes foundation, sandboxed by default, zero-retention model routing.
- June vs SuperwhisperJune is private by default with zero setup; Superwhisper can be private if you configure it. An honest comparison of two privacy-minded Mac dictation apps.
- June vs Wispr FlowWispr Flow stores your voice data in the cloud and trains on it by default. June routes dictation to zero-retention models and keeps history on your Mac.
- June FAQCommon questions about June, privacy, and pricing.
Try June on real work
Free to start. macOS 14 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel.