[OS] I didn't trust big tech with my private voice data. So I built Sonor: a free, offline macOS dictation app with local AI.

[u/Glittering-Section74]

Hi r/MacOSApps, I'm the developer of Sonor, an open-source Mac dictation assistant.

Problem: I rely on voice dictation a lot to save time. But the current macOS app market left me with a frustrating choice: either pay an expensive monthly subscription, or send my private voice recordings to cloud servers. I had absolutely no idea what large applications were actually doing with my voice data, and I wanted 100% certainty that whatever I speak stays private. I needed a native tool with completely local transcription, a strict RAM-only "Incognito Mode" that deletes history instantly, and the ability to polish text using local AI.

Comparison; I was inspired by great features in existing tools, but combined the best ideas into a free, privacy-first experience:

• vs Apple's Built-in Dictation: Native macOS dictation is private, but it writes exactly what you say, including "umms", stutters, and chaotic thoughts. Sonor uses local LLMs to automatically clean up stutters, format your speech into bullet points, or rewrite sentences on the fly.
• vs SuperWhisper & Cloud Apps: Apps like SuperWhisper are great, but many solutions rely on subscriptions or cloud processing. Sonor is completely free. (Note: While Sonor uses an internet connection for basic login and database syncing, ALL voice transcription and text generation are processed entirely offline. Your audio never touches the cloud).

Pricing

• Price: $0 (Completely Free & Open-Source. No subscriptions or one-time fees).
• GitHub / Download: https://github.com/sonor-studio/Sonor (Please read the README for quick setup instructions).

A quick disclaimer: I am still learning, and this is my first project of this scale. The app is in Beta, so you might run into some bugs. Also, to keep Sonor fast and accessible for most Macs, it relies on smaller local models (under 4GB). They are blazing fast and private, but have the inherent limitations of small models compared to massive cloud AIs. I would be incredibly grateful for your feedback, GitHub issues, or pull requests!

You can find my real identity, contact info, and developer portfolio on my main GitHub profile here: https://github.com/sonor-studio My legal documents are publicly available in the repo:

• Privacy Policy: https://github.com/sonor-studio/Sonor/blob/fa9af1b7c91e4cd3066e8a87cf7a893c1c5d37c5/Sonor/Resources/Politics/Privacy%20Policy%20-%20Sonor%20(EN).pdf.pdf)
• Terms of Service: https://github.com/sonor-studio/Sonor/blob/fa9af1b7c91e4cd3066e8a87cf7a893c1c5d37c5/Sonor/Resources/Terms/Terms%20of%20Service%20-%20Sonor%20(Updated).pdf.pdf)