say

Just Say It

What's the purpose of this tool?

say is always on, recording and transcribing your voice 24/7. Whenever inspiration strikes, just say it.

Setup

How do I set up this tool?

1. Make sure you're using a Mac with Apple silicon.

2. Install Homebrew.

3. Enter this command in your terminal:

   brew install 8ta4/say/say

4. If you have already installed Visual Studio Code not using Homebrew, add it to your system's PATH.

5. Hit ⌘ + Space to open your launcher.

6. Type say.

7. Hit Enter when say pops up.

8. If asked, allow say to access your mic.

9. Copy a Deepgram API key from their website.

10. Paste your API key when say asks for it.

Cost

What's the cost?

say is free to use, but it uses the Deepgram API, which might cost you some money. You can check out the prices on Deepgram's pricing page.

Will I be charged all the time?

To save some bucks, say uses voice activity detection (VAD) to cut down on unnecessary usage. But VAD may not be flawless.

Am I going to get arrested for using this tool?

Well, that depends on where you live. Different places have different laws about recording conversations. say is meant to help with accessibility, not to act as a recording device. But if someone misuses it, there could be legal trouble.

Usage

How do I access recent transcriptions?

Just press ⌘ + ;. This will open the latest transcription file. If a new transcription is done, say will serve it up as soon as it's ready. But say won't bug you with any more transcriptions after that.

Can I close the window and have the app running in the background?

Yup, you can. Closing the window with the close button, ⌘ + w, or even ⌘ + q won't stop say. It'll keep running in the background, capturing your voice.

Can I quit the background process?

Technically you can force quit the background process. But say is meant to be running 24/7 to capture your voice. It'll try to restart itself if you quit it. If you really want to stop using say, the best way is to uninstall it and reboot your computer.

Can this tool automatically turn off during meetings?

Nope, say is always on, even during meetings.

Can this tool be scheduled to turn off at specific times?

say doesn't have a scheduling feature to turn off at certain times.

What's the main source of latency?

Usually, it's the Deepgram API that slows things down.

Here are some hacks to speed it up:

• Stay in the continental US to reduce latency, as "[a]ll Deepgram data is processed inside of the continental US."
• Get an internet connection with an upload bandwidth of at least 1 Gbps.

Will my Mac automatically sleep while this tool is running?

Nope, your Mac stays awake when say is running, even on battery power. After all, say's main gig is to capture voice round-the-clock. But hey, modern Macs have some serious battery stamina. Just find a plug when you can.

Can I manually make my Mac sleep while this tool is running?

Absolutely! If you care more about saving battery, feel free to put your Mac to sleep.

Will this tool stop my MacBook from sleeping when I close the lid?

Nah. If your MacBook's set to sleep when you close it up, it'll still do that even with say running. But hey, if you've got your MacBook set up to stay awake in clamshell mode, it'll stay up regardless of whether say is doing its thing or not.

Does this tool filter out other voices?

Nah, say is an equal-opportunity listener.

If there are multiple speakers, consider a fancy mic with:

• Noise cancellation
• Proximity to the mouth
• Wireless capability
• Comfort fit
• Long battery life
• Secure grip

However, if there is only one speaker, your built-in mic should do the trick, saving you from:

• Noise cancellation glitches
• Connectivity issues
• Discomfort
• Battery life concerns

Here are some pro tips:

• Practice verbalizing every internal monologue. It's like learning a new language!
• Keep your words simple and clear. It's like touch-typing for your voice.
• Consider accent coaching. No offense, but Standard American English is the most recognized. Yeah, it's accentist.
• Look into voice training. You don't want to lose your voice after a long chat, right?
• Wear headphones or earphones when you listen to audio.
• Living alone could be an option... if you're really serious about clean recordings.
• And if all else fails... well, there's always divorce.

Which mic does this tool use by default?

say defaults to your built-in mic.

How does the intensity of sound change as the mic is moved further away?

The sound intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.

When does this tool start using my external mic?

say will use your external mic if:

• You're not in a hideaway.
• You've specified an external mic to use outside of your hideaway.
• Your configured external mic is connected.

How do I set up a hideaway?

1. Connect to the Wi-Fi or Ethernet network you want to use as your hideaway.

2. Hit ⌘ + Space to open your launcher.

3. Type say.

4. Hit Enter when say pops up.

5. Click ENABLE HIDEAWAY.

How do I set up an external mic for non-hideaway use?

1. Plug in the external mic you want to use.

2. Hit ⌘ + Space to bring up your launcher.

3. Type say.

4. Hit Enter when say shows up. You'll see a list of mics.

5. Pick the external mic you want.

Which mic does this tool use in a hideaway?

say sticks with your built-in mic in a hideaway.

Will this tool use the built-in mic if there's no external mic and I'm not in a hideaway?

No. If you're not in a hideaway and there's no external mic, say won't use the built-in mic to avoid recording poor audio. You can either connect an external mic or mark your current location as a hideaway if you think the built-in mic is good enough.

Can I enable multiple hideaways?

Absolutely!

How do I disable a hideaway?

1. Connect to the Wi-Fi or Ethernet network you want to disable as a hideaway.

2. Hit ⌘ + Space to open your launcher.

3. Type say.

4. Hit Enter when say pops up.

5. Click DISABLE HIDEAWAY to turn off the hideaway for that network.

Does this tool keep a record of the audio?

Nope, say doesn't store any audio after it's transcribed.

But it uses Deepgram as the transcription service. And Deepgram say they only hold "audio data for as long as necessary", but who knows what that means.

How are my transcriptions organized?

say organizes your transcripts in a specific directory structure:

 ~/.local/share/say
│
├── YYYY
│   ├── MM
│   │   ├── DD.txt

Each day's transcript is organized by year (YYYY), month (MM), and day (DD).

What decides the transcript file, the start or end time of my audio?

say uses audio end time to pick the right file for your transcript. This makes it easier to find what you said today, even if you started talking before midnight.

How does this tool segment each file?

say splits each file into handy chunks for easy navigation with your Neovim plugin.

say starts a new paragraph when you ask for transcription. This helps you keep track of what you have already used and what you need next. You can jump to the latest chunk of text with Shift + [ and Shift + ].

Each sentence in say gets its own line. That way, you can easily move up and down with j and k.

Can I modify the transcript files?

DD.txt is designed to be read-only.

Dropbox or similar file syncing services might alter the file attribute and make it writable.

Technically, you could switch it to writable, make your edits, and then switch it back to read-only. But let's not go there.

If you want to annotate or edit something, copy the content to a new file and work on that.

You can tweak Visual Studio Code to respect read-only file settings.

How do I back up my transcripts?

You can back up the ~/.local/share/say directory using your preferred method.

How do I secure my transcripts?

You can protect your data using device-level encryption.