Help

For SayMath 0.1 beta on macOS 14 or later.

Installing SayMath

Open SayMath-0.1.0.dmg from your Downloads folder.
Drag SayMath into the Applications folder.
Open SayMath from Applications. It appears in the Dock, and setup walks you through the rest one step at a time.
Allow the microphone when macOS asks.
On the Accessibility step, click Open Accessibility settings and turn on SayMath in the list. SayMath needs this to notice the talk key in other apps and to type the result. The step turns green by itself once it works. If SayMath is already on but the step stays grey, select it, click the minus button below the list, then add it again.
The speech model downloads in the background, about 1.5 GB, and the first time macOS also prepares it for your Mac, which takes about a minute. On macOS 26 you can start dictating right away: until the model is ready, your Mac’s built-in speech recognition fills in.
Sign in with Apple, Google or your email. Your first 7 days include Pro; if a friend gave you a code, click Have a friend’s code? when you sign in for a month of Pro instead.

Click SayMath in the Dock at any time to open its window: whether everything is ready, your talk key, this week’s numbers, recent dictations and your dictionary. You never need the window to dictate.

SayMath opens by itself when you log in, so dictation is always ready. To change that, open Settings, General, Startup.

The first time you open SayMath it asks you to sign in, with Apple, with Google, or with your email (we send a six-digit code; there is no password). Your account keeps your plan and Pro time on every Mac you sign in on. If you used SayMath before signing in was required, signing in keeps your account as it was.

Dictating

Click where you want the text to go. Hold the right Option key, talk, and let go. To talk without holding the key, tap it twice quickly, and tap it once more when you are done. If you stop talking for 30 seconds, it finishes by itself and types what you said. While SayMath listens, your Mac’s built-in speakers are muted, so music or a video playing on them is not written down; headphones are left alone. You can turn this off in Settings, General, Microphone. You can also click the small bar at the bottom of the screen.

Say math the way you would read it aloud: “x squared plus one”, “the integral from zero to one of x d x”, “a over the quantity b plus c”. Use “the quantity” when a whole group goes in a fraction, root or exponent.

Chemistry works the same way: say the elements and numbers, as in “H two O”, “C O two” or “H plus ions”.

How math is written depends on where you are. Google Docs and Word get real equations, course sites get the LaTeX they display as math, and messages, email and notes get readable text like x² and ½. To change it for one app, open Settings, Output, For one app.

To change a result, click the card that shows it above the bar. Type your change, or hold the right Option key and say it (“make that x cubed”, “change the 2 to a 3”), then click Replace. In Google Docs an equation can’t be swapped automatically yet: delete the old one, then click Insert.

Things you can say right after a dictation:

“Scratch that” removes it.
“Make that x cubed instead” changes it.
“Use my words” puts back exactly what you said.
“Read that back” reads it aloud, with the math as words (“x squared plus one”), so you can check it by ear. Select text first to hear that instead. Press the key to stop.

To rewrite text that is already there, select it, hold the key and say what to do: “make this more formal”, “turn this into a list”, “translate this to Spanish”. Control, Option and V together insert your last result again, and Control, Option and E open it to edit without the mouse.

In email, a greeting and a sign-off you say go on their own lines: “Hi Sarah, thanks for the notes. Best, Maya” arrives as a letter. In chats, Settings, General, Inserting can leave off the final period, or write everything in lowercase too. Say “new line” or “new paragraph” for a break anywhere else.

If something does not work

Nothing happens when I hold the key. Check that it is the Option key on the right side of the keyboard; the one on the left does nothing, and the bar says so if you hold it. The bar also says when SayMath is not allowed yet; click it and follow the Accessibility step. If SayMath is on in System Settings but still does not work, select it there, click the minus button below the list, and add it again: macOS sometimes keeps an old copy of the app in the list.

Math comes out as plain words. Math needs an internet connection; check Settings, Account. When the free plan’s 5 math dictations for the week are used up, sentences without math are still cleaned up and typed as usual, and math arrives as plain words until the week resets; the card above the bar says so.

An equation looks wrong. Open SayMath from the Dock, go to History, click Fix on that dictation and write what it should have been. SayMath follows your version the next time you say something similar.

It typed into the wrong place. Click where you want it and press Control, Option and V.

“No speech heard, so nothing was typed.” The recording was silent or only background noise. Check that the right microphone is chosen in Settings, General, and that it is not muted.

“Nothing here takes text, so it’s on the clipboard.” No text box was selected when you dictated, so SayMath kept the result for you. Click where it should go and press Command and V.

“SayMath doesn’t listen in password fields.” A password field has the keyboard, so SayMath stays off: a spoken password would otherwise be heard and kept in History. Click another field.

My music goes quiet while I dictate. That is on purpose: the Mac’s built-in speakers are muted while SayMath listens, so the music is not written down, and the sound comes back when you stop. Headphones are never muted. To turn it off, open Settings, General, Microphone.

My AirPods sound worse while I dictate. SayMath uses your Mac’s own microphone when a Bluetooth headset is connected, so music should keep playing normally. You can choose a microphone in Settings, General.

Pro and inviting friends

Every new Mac starts with 7 days of Pro. After that, dictating words stays free and unlimited, with 5 math dictations a week. Pro adds unlimited math, editing by voice and Command Mode, and hands-free dictation up to 20 minutes. See the prices on the home page.

To buy Pro, open Settings, Account and click Get Pro, choose a plan, and pay on Stripe’s page; Pro turns on by itself within a minute. If you are still in your free week, the first charge waits until it ends. To change plan, update your card or cancel, click Manage subscription in the same place; Pro stays on until the end of the time you paid for. See the renewal terms.

Pro on another Mac. Sign in on the other Mac the same way you signed in on this one (Apple, Google or the same email): it is the same account, with your plan and Pro time.

Students. Signing in with a school email that ends in .edu marks you as a student. If you signed in another way, open Settings, Account and confirm your school email under Student: we send it a code.

In Settings, Account, click Copy invite link and send it to a friend. They get a month of Pro when they join, and once they’ve used SayMath on three days, you get a month too, for every friend.

Uninstalling

Quit SayMath (click it in the Dock and press Command Q) and drag it from Applications to the Trash. To clear History without uninstalling, open Settings, General, History; there you can also choose how long History is kept, down to not at all. Its history and speech model are in the folder ~/Library/Application Support/SayMath, which you can also move to the Trash. To delete your account first, open Settings, Account, Delete account.

Contact

Write to support@quietspire.com. Please include your Mac model and macOS version.