Turns your voice into keystrokes on Apple Silicon Macs

What it does

Hex sits in the background until you press a global hotkey, then records your voice and drops the transcribed text directly into the active application. It behaves like a system-wide dictation shortcut that actually understands where your cursor is. You can hold the key to talk, or double-tap it to lock recording until you tap again.

The interesting bit

The app supports two entirely different transcription backends: a cloud-optimized Parakeet model via FluidAudio for speed and multilingual support, and WhisperKit for entirely on-device processing. It also uses the Swift Composable Architecture, which is unusual for a simple utility and suggests the author plans to keep the logic maintainable as it grows.

Key highlights

• Runs only on Apple Silicon Macs; Intel Macs need not apply.
• Two transcription backends: cloud-optimized Parakeet via FluidAudio, or on-device WhisperKit for offline use.
• Global hotkey injection requires microphone and accessibility permissions.
• Two recording modes: momentary press-and-hold or toggle-style double-tap.
• Open source under MIT, though the author is currently prioritizing issue reports over significant external contributions.

Caveats

• Apple Silicon only; Intel Macs are explicitly unsupported.
• Accessibility permissions are mandatory, which may give privacy-conscious users pause.
• The project is evolving rapidly and the author is not actively reviewing pull requests for core logic changes.

Verdict

Ideal for developers or writers on M-series Macs who want dictation without breaking flow. Skip it if you’re on Intel, wary of accessibility access, or looking to land a major PR right now.