Your data stays on your Mac.

Steno only records while you dictate. It turns your speech into text on your Mac, and keeps your audio, transcripts, profiles, and diagnostics on your Mac unless you choose to share them.

Runs on your Mac: Dictation and Profile Rewrite run on your Mac, using models that come with the app.
No account: Steno does not need a sign-in or an online account to work.
No tracking: Steno does not collect analytics, crash reports, your audio, your transcripts, your clipboard, writing profiles, or diagnostic exports.

What Steno may access

Microphone: To record your voice only while you dictate — between the start and stop of your dictation shortcut (hold the key, or double-tap if you use toggle activation).
Frontmost app (optional): If you turn on switching writing profiles by app, Steno reads only the bundle identifier of the app you are dictating into so it can pick the profile you mapped to it. It never reads other apps' windows, screens, or contents. To help you set up mappings, the Settings picker lists the names of apps currently running on your Mac; only the bundle identifiers of apps you map are stored, on your Mac.
Clipboard: By default, Steno copies finished transcripts to the clipboard so you can paste them into another app yourself. You can turn off "Copy transcript to clipboard after dictation" if you want Steno to leave the clipboard unchanged. When clipboard saving is off, completed transcripts can still be saved in Transcript Library if history is enabled.

What stays local

Transcripts, settings, and profiles: Saved transcripts, settings, writing profiles, and Profile Rewrite output stay on your Mac.
Temporary audio: Temporary local audio files used during capture are removed when transcription finishes or when capture is canceled.
Bundled models: The app comes with the speech-to-text and Profile Rewrite models it needs. Steno does not send your audio or transcripts to a server.
Transcript history: History is on by default and stored only on your Mac. You can turn it off, choose a retention period, pin transcripts you want to keep, or delete all history.
Usage stats: Steno keeps a local, aggregate count of how many words you have dictated and an estimate of the time saved versus typing. These numbers stay on your Mac, never include any transcript text, are never uploaded, and can be reset any time in Settings.
Diagnostics: Diagnostics exports are local files and are shared only if you choose to send them. Diagnostics do not include dictated text, audio, or clipboard contents.

Sharing and contact

Copying, sharing, exporting, and pasting are actions you start. Once content leaves Steno, it is governed by the app or service you chose.

Questions about privacy: [email protected] or the support page.