Interface Overview

Main Window

The sidebar contains Dictate, History, Insights, and Settings.

Dictate

The compact Dictate control shows microphone access, listening, elapsed recording time, and transcription state. Shortcut reminders sit nearby. Stop completes the current recording; Cancel discards it. While Steno is transcribing, Cancel transcription discards the dictation: nothing is inserted or saved to History, and the recording is deleted. If you press a dictation shortcut while the previous dictation is still finishing, the overlay shows a brief notice.

History and Insights

History lets you search completed transcripts, inspect raw and cleaned text, check insertion status, copy or paste again, run cleanup again and restore the original, delete entries, and delete all history. Insights summarizes activity without keeping another copy of transcript text or audio. See History and Insights for retention and recovery details.

Settings

Choose a section in Settings to edit its preferences. Most changes remain a draft until you choose Save changes; Discard restores saved values. Appearance saves immediately. See Settings Overview.

Menu Bar Controls

The menu bar item provides access to the main window and recording controls while another app is focused. Global shortcuts let you record without bringing Steno forward. Recording needs Microphone permission. Text insertion also depends on Accessibility permission and the receiving app.

Floating Recording Overlay

Enable Show live transcript under Settings → Recording to follow provisional words in the overlay. Recent words may change and the overlay rolls forward during longer speech. Steno uses the completed dictation for insertion and saved text. With live transcript disabled, the overlay stays compact. Stop finishes; Cancel, or the X while Steno is transcribing, discards the recording. Recordings stop automatically after one hour, with a countdown in the overlay during the last minute, and the audio is transcribed.