PadChat 0.2.1 Preview 1 — PS5 Share and controller Options fixes

PadChat 0.2.1-preview.1

Start here: get voice-to-text working

For Windows 10/11 x64 and WoW Forever 1.60.x. Voice works with a keyboard or controller. Installing only the CurseForge addon does not enable voice: run the complete Windows installer below once.

1. Download PadChat-Setup.exe (about 429 MB). This single installer includes the addon, voice companion and English speech models. No ZIP extraction or source-code downloads are needed.
2. Close WoW, then run PadChat-Setup.exe.
3. Select your WoW Forever game folder containing WowB.exe and Data—usually World of Warcraft/_classic_beta_.
4. Leave “Install voice typing” enabled. Keep “Start voice helper automatically when I sign in to Windows” enabled if you want voice ready after every Windows sign-in.
5. Click Install, then choose your microphone when prompted. It must be an input device Windows detects on the gaming PC. If microphone access is denied, allow desktop apps to use the microphone in Windows Privacy settings.
6. Start WoW and enable PadChat in the character-selection AddOns list. Disable the older ControllerKeyboard / ControllerKeyboardTouchpad addons if installed, and do not run an older WoW Voice helper alongside PadChat Voice.

Try your first message

Select WoW, choose Say, and test a short sentence somewhere quiet. You do not need to open PadChat’s on-screen keyboard to dictate.

Input	Change chat channel	Dictate and send
Keyboard	Tap F8	Hold F8, speak, then release
PlayStation controller	Tap Create / Share	Hold Create / Share, speak, then release
Xbox-compatible controller	Tap Back / View	Hold Back / View, speak, then release

Releasing push-to-talk sends the recognised message immediately. Check the live preview while speaking; recognition can mishear words and player names. Your controller must already work in WoW; keyboard voice typing needs no controller.

If nothing happens or no words appear

• Open PadChat Voice from Start to make sure the companion is running, and keep WoW selected while using the shortcut.
• Open Choose microphone from PadChat’s Start-menu folder or tray icon to check or change the input. After connecting a different microphone, select it here.
• Check that the microphone is not muted and Windows can detect your speech. Missing or ambiguous microphones stop recognition instead of silently switching inputs.
• Run WoW and the voice companion at the same normal user privilege level.
• For an update or repair, close WoW and rerun the complete package’s installer. Voice users need the matching companion update as well as the addon.

After installation, open PadChat Help from the Windows Start menu for the full guide. The ZIP download also includes START-HERE.txt. Speech recognition runs locally with bundled English models: no Python installation, API key, model download or paid speech account is needed.

What changed in this release

• Added controller-selectable Options and Close keys on the keyboard bottom row.
• Added D-pad navigation/value changes, X/A activation and Circle/B dismissal inside Options.
• Fixed Escape/Close handling, draft preservation and hidden control hints.
• Added saved opening bindings with optional held shoulder/trigger modifiers and conflict notices.
• Fixed Send with both WoW key-down preferences.
• Repaired native PS5 Create/Share detection in the Windows companion; tap cycles channels and hold dictates. Controller support is bundled and does not require Steam.
• Keyboard F8 voice typing and optional automatic startup remain supported.

Voice users must also update the Windows companion. The CurseForge ZIP installs the addon only. The standalone PadChat-Setup.exe below installs both parts; run it with WoW closed, then choose your game folder and Windows microphone. The ZIP is an alternative download of the same installer.

Automated addon, bundled speech and installer checks pass. The original user confirmed the repaired controller controls in live play. This remains an unsigned preview; a second clean PC has not been tested.

Downloads

• PadChat-Setup.exe: recommended direct installer for the addon and voice companion; no extraction required.
• PadChat-Setup.exe.sha256: SHA-256 checksum for the standalone installer.
• PadChat-Windows-Voice-0.2.1-preview.1.zip: complete Windows installer, addon, bundled speech models and source.
• PadChat-0.2.1-preview.1.zip: addon only, also available on CurseForge.
• PadChat-source.zip: source matching the tested installer.
• checksums-sha256.txt: SHA-256 hashes of the downloads.

Voice works for both keyboard players (F8) and controller players (Create/Share or Back/View). Choose a microphone recognised by Windows in PadChat Voice. Recognition runs locally without API keys or OpenAI token charges.

PadChat 0.2.0 Preview 1 — keyboard, controller and local voice

Keyboard and controller chat, with optional local voice-to-text

WoW Forever 1.60.1 / Interface 16001. This is an unsigned early preview for public testing.

Choose your download

• PadChat-Windows-Voice-0.2.0-preview.1.zip: complete Windows 10/11 x64 package, including addon, voice installer, bundled English speech models, instructions and source. Extract, close WoW, run PadChat-Setup.exe, select your game folder and host-PC microphone. No Python installation, API key or model download needed.
• PadChat-0.2.0-preview.1.zip: addon only. Install the PadChat folder into Interface/AddOns. This file does not capture microphone audio.
• PadChat-source.zip: source corresponding to the shipping Windows package.

Keyboard voice-to-text

With PadChat Voice running, tap F8 to change channel, hold F8 to dictate, then release to send. No controller required. Create/Share or Xbox Back/View performs the same voice action for controller players. F9 or /padchat opens the keyboard outside combat.

Speech recognition runs locally without OpenAI tokens. Release sends immediately and recognition may mishear words or names. The microphone must appear on the Windows host; Moonlight on iPad does not forward its built-in or controller microphone.

Preview scope

Automated addon checks, shipping installer fresh/update/rollback/uninstall tests, and actual bundled speech inference passed in isolated Windows folders. Startup/registration were simulated. A second physical PC, fresh player account and real microphone/gameplay validation remain outstanding. Retail and older Classic are not supported. Windows may show an unknown-publisher warning because the installer is unsigned.

Disable ControllerKeyboard/ControllerKeyboardTouchpad and do not run an older WoW voice helper alongside PadChat Voice. Read the repository INSTALL.txt for full setup, controls, privacy and removal.

SHA-256

• Complete Windows ZIP: 5ca9b5538c63968e30eff81dc7a18cfcdc938bf7cfdbc37ac83bda71bf1cbd6a
• Addon ZIP: 7b0ef2b4acbb63feb1658afb78c3b344fb286b40510c2c3de44fa3bed4921cc6
• Source ZIP: 52abe031c9e65acbcd52ff44814b2b51470b638239a935fa290f3066c63955a5
• Installer inside the Windows ZIP: a42137cfee627475336acefa6b49e0e047db77e8575351eaa05dd283526180ae

Original code: MIT license. Separate dependency/model licenses are included in the installer.