It stopped working: which permissions should I check?

Open System Settings, then Privacy & Security, and make sure Writhere is enabled under Microphone, Accessibility and Input Monitoring (plus Screen Recording if you transcribe calls). Then relaunch the app: macOS applies some of these only to a fresh start. You can check them anytime from the Autorizzazioni section in the app dashboard.

What are the system requirements?

A Mac with macOS 13 or later. Apple Silicon (M1 or newer) is recommended: everything runs on-device, and the AI features are dramatically faster there. Intel Macs work too, with longer processing times for call transcription and summaries.

Why does it ask for the Microphone?

To hear your voice while you dictate. The audio is processed on your Mac and never leaves it.

Why does it ask for Accessibility?

To type the dictated text straight into your apps and to catch the shortcut in any app. Without it, Writhere would be stuck in its own window.

Why does it ask for Screen Recording?

Only to hear the other side of a call you want transcribed: macOS gates system audio behind this permission. It is optional, nothing is filmed, and no audio ever leaves your Mac.

€49 forever — what's the catch?

There isn't one. The AI runs on your device, so there's no ongoing cost on our side to pass on to you. One payment, yours to keep.

Is my voice really private?

Yes. Everything is processed locally. Your audio and text never leave your machine — there's no server to send them to.

What happens when I switch computers?

Your license covers every device you own. Install Writhere on the new one and you're set — no account, nothing to migrate from the cloud.

Yes — improvements land as free updates, so the app you own keeps getting better at no extra cost.

July 21, 2026

Does Writhere Use the Internet? Every Network Call It Makes, Listed

"On-device" gets used loosely in dictation marketing, including ours in places — so here's the specific, honest list of every network request the Writhere app actually makes, and which ones are on by default.

Quick answer

Speech-to-text itself always runs locally — no network call, ever, for the actual transcription. The app does make a small number of other network calls: license activation, checking for app updates, and (only if you turn it on) an optional AI cleanup pass using your own API key. Crash reports are sent via Sentry to help fix bugs. None of these are the dictation itself.

What is on-device, always, no setting required

— Speech-to-text transcription. Runs on your Mac's own chip via a local model. No audio or transcript is ever sent anywhere to produce it.
— Translation (if you enable it). Uses a local model on your Mac — a separate feature from the AI cleanup below, and not a cloud API call.
— Text formatting and custom dictionary. Applied locally to the transcribed text.

What does touch the network, and why

— License activation/deactivation. A request to verify your purchase when you first activate a Mac, or move your license to a new one.
— Update checks. A request to see if a newer app version is available.
— Optional AI cleanup (off by default). A settings toggle that, if turned on, sends your transcribed text directly to the cloud AI provider of your choice (OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic) using an API key you supply yourself, to polish grammar and resolve spoken self-corrections. This never happens unless you enable it and add your own key.
— Crash reporting. If the app crashes or hits an error, a report is sent via Sentry to help identify and fix the bug — it does not include your dictated text.

The bottom line

The part that matters most — your voice becoming text — never leaves your Mac. The handful of things that do touch the network are either account/update housekeeping, or a feature you have to explicitly opt into with your own key. Nothing is hidden, and nothing routes your dictation through a Writhere-run server.