Push-to-talk on a modifier key you choose
fn by default. If macOS already has fn busy switching your keyboard layout, put HoldFn on right option, right command, right control, right shift or left option instead.
How it works
One key is the entire interface.
No record button. No window to find. No transcript to copy out of and paste back in.
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01
Hold
Click into any text field — Messages, the address bar, a Slack thread, anywhere a cursor blinks — and hold the key.
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02
Speak
A small pill appears at the bottom of the screen while the mic is hot. Say the thing the way you would say it.
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03
Release
Let go and the text types itself in at the cursor. The text is already where you needed it.
Free, forever
Everything you need to dictate. No limits, any model.
Types into any app, at the cursor
Wherever the cursor is when you let go.
Transcription on your Mac
With models from 145 MB to 1.6 GB — NVIDIA's Parakeet or OpenAI's Whisper — running on the Apple Neural Engine through Core ML.
The last take on your clipboard
So a misfire is never a lost thought. Paste it wherever it should have gone.
Works offline
Dictation does, once the speech model is downloaded. The first setup needs a connection to fetch the model. After that you can dictate with the Wi-Fi off.
Privacy
Your voice never leaves your Mac.
Speech recognition runs on your machine. We have no server that could receive your audio, and there is no account to make. HoldFn never sends your audio anywhere — unless you point it at your own transcription server, which nothing does by default.
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No account, ever
No sign-up, no email address, no licence server to log into. The 30-day Pro trial asks for nothing at all.
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This site is quiet too
No cookies, no analytics script, no third-party fonts, nothing embedded. That is why you did not get a cookie banner.
- 01
Speech model download
Once per model, from Hugging Face. Nothing from your recordings.
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Update check
Against GitHub, and you can switch it off. Nothing from your recordings.
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Licence check
Only if you bought a licence: the key, this Mac's name and the app version, to Polar. Nothing from your recordings.
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Your own transcription server
Only if you set it up yourself. Point HoldFn at one and it posts the recording there, to an address only you know. Nothing is set up out of the box.
HoldFn is not a hermit, so all four are written down, in full, including what each one sends.
HoldFn Pro
What Pro adds.
Dictation is free, forever, with any model and no limits. Pro is the polish.
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Vocabulary
Your names, jargon and spellings, corrected in every take.
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Filler removal
The ums and likes, dropped before the text lands.
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Sticky hold
Latch the key with a second one and stop holding anything.
fn + shift locks the mic open -
Spoken stop phrase
Finish a take without touching the keyboard.
“over and out”, or a phrase of your own -
Live preview
See the words while you are still speaking.
Thirty days of Pro when you first open it. No account, no email, no card.
See pricingPricing
One payment. Yours to keep.
HoldFn Pro
Every Pro feature, on one licence.
€19.90
- Yours to keep, for this major version, on up to ten of your own Macs
- Twelve months of updates included; after that it keeps working exactly as it did, and security fixes still arrive
- Renewal is always half of what you last paid — and it is optional
- Thirty days of Pro when you first open it. No account, no email, no card
- Requires macOS 26 or later on a Mac with Apple silicon
Both apps
HoldFn + Meetfacts
Dictation, and the meeting recorder that writes it up.
€45 €9.90 less than both apps bought separately (€19.90 + €35)
- One licence key activates both apps
- Pro in each app: vocabulary, filler removal, sticky hold, a spoken stop phrase and live preview in HoldFn; automatic summaries, naming, calendar and meeting alerts in Meetfacts
- Both on up to ten of your own Macs
- Thirty days of Pro in each app when you first open it
Checkout is Polar’s, in German, and takes card, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The download is the signed, notarised 1.2.2 build.
- Polar sells and invoices HoldFn as merchant of record
- Prices include VAT. Buyers in the US, Canada and India have sales tax added by Polar at checkout
When you do buy: your licence key is in your Polar customer portal, reachable from the link in your order confirmation email. Copy the key into HoldFn to activate this Mac. You need an internet connection for activation and periodic licence checks.
Records meetings too? Meetfacts is the sister app — it records both sides of a call as separate tracks, transcribes it on your Mac and writes it up. meetfacts.com · €35 on its own, or €45 for both, on one licence.
Is anything I say uploaded?
No. Your audio and your transcripts are processed on your Mac. HoldFn never sends your audio anywhere — unless you point it at your own transcription server, which nothing does by default. There is no server of ours that could receive them.
HoldFn makes four network calls, and they are all listed on the transparency page: a one-time model download, an update check you can switch off, and — only if you bought a licence — a periodic licence check. None of those three carries anything from your recordings. The fourth is the transcription server you can enter yourself in the settings: point HoldFn at one and it posts the recording there, to an address only you know. Nothing is set up out of the box.
Does it work offline?
Dictation does, once the speech model is downloaded. The first setup needs a connection to fetch the model. After that you can dictate with the Wi-Fi off.
Which Macs?
macOS 26 or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon. Apple silicon is not a recommendation: HoldFn ships as an arm64-only build and will not run on an Intel Mac.
Is this a subscription?
No. One payment, no automatic renewal, nothing to cancel. The licence is perpetual for this major version, on up to ten of your own Macs. The HoldFn licence allows ten activations; remove an old Mac in your Polar customer portal to free a slot. The bundle allows twenty separate app activations, so both HoldFn and Meetfacts can run on ten of your own Macs. Twelve months of updates are included; after that your Pro features keep working, and security fixes still arrive. If you want another year of new features, a renewal costs half of what you last paid. Licence checks are normally weekly, with up to thirty days offline after the last successful check. Earlier purchases retain the terms promised at purchase. Full terms.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes, and you should. Dictation is free forever, with any model and no limits. All five Pro features run for thirty days when you first open the app, with no account, no email address and no card.
Where is my licence key?
In your Polar customer portal. Open the portal link in your order confirmation email, copy your licence key and paste it into HoldFn to activate this Mac. If the email has not arrived or you cannot find the key, check spam and then write to contact@holdfn.com and we will help you access your licence.
How accurate is it?
Accurate enough to be faster than typing, and not accurate enough to send unread. Speech recognition gets names, jargon, dialect and crosstalk wrong. The Pro vocabulary feature exists because of the first two. Read the text before you send it.