Frequently asked questions about Pnyx

Pnyx is a smart voice dictation app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac (with a Windows companion). You speak, Pnyx turns your voice into text, corrects and formats it, then pastes it where you need it. Transcription can be fully on-device or go through a cloud provider you choose.

Pnyx works on iPhone and iPad (on the App Store) and on Mac (macOS 26 or later, direct download notarized by Apple). A lightweight companion, Pnyx Helper, is available for Windows to receive your dictations on a PC.

Yes, Pnyx is free. On-device transcription is completely free and unlimited. Optional cloud providers (transcription or AI enhancement) use your own API keys: it's up to you whether and when to enable them.

Yes. With on-device transcription engines, Pnyx dictates fully offline, with no connection at all. If you use a cloud mode without a network, the dictation is queued and transcribed automatically as soon as you're back online.

Pnyx transcribes in many languages, including French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, and Portuguese. Depending on the engine, coverage ranges from a few Latin languages to about twenty, and up to nearly a hundred with Whisper-style cloud engines.

On iPhone and iPad, enable the Pnyx keyboard: it shows up as a system keyboard and lets you dictate in any app (Messages, Mail, notes, browser…). On Mac, a global keyboard shortcut triggers dictation anywhere: press, speak, and the text is inserted at the cursor.

It's a third-party keyboard for iPhone and iPad that adds smart dictation everywhere. With one tap it records your voice, transcribes it with your chosen mode, then inserts the text into the active field. It works in every app that accepts a keyboard.

The Mac app installs a global keyboard shortcut: wherever you are, press it, speak, release, and the transcribed text appears right at the cursor in the active app. No window to open, no copy-paste.

On-device transcription runs entirely on your device: nothing leaves it, it's free and works offline. Cloud transcription sends the audio to a provider you choose (for extra speed or accuracy) via your own API key. Pnyx defaults to on-device and only uses the cloud if you decide to.

Several: on-device Whisper (WhisperKit) and NVIDIA Parakeet / Nemotron (via FluidAudio), Apple's built-in speech recognition, and cloud engines such as Whisper large v3 turbo. You choose the engine per mode.

Yes, if you enable it. Each mode can apply an AI enhancement: punctuation, formatting, tone (email, message, note) and correction. AI is optional and configured per mode; you can also keep the raw transcription.

No. Pnyx has no server of its own. In on-device mode, your dictations never leave the device. In cloud mode, the audio goes straight from your device to the provider you chose, with your own key. The developer never sees your data.

No. Pnyx doesn't collect your personal data and has no collection server. Your transcriptions, notes and statistics stay on your devices (and in your own iCloud if you enable sync). See the privacy policy.

In the device's secure Keychain, and in an encrypted file on your iCloud Drive if you sync. They never pass through any Pnyx server.

A small companion for Mac and Windows that receives dictations made on your iPhone or iPad, over the local network. The text lands in the computer's clipboard or is pasted right at the cursor — handy for dictating on your phone and writing on your computer.

Pair your computer once with Pnyx Helper, on the same Wi-Fi. Then, at the end of a dictation from the Pnyx Home screen, the text is sent to the chosen computer: into its clipboard, or pasted directly depending on your setting.

Yes. Pnyx Helper for Windows is a portable app (no install) that sits in the notification area. It receives your iPhone/iPad dictations, offers a history of recent dictations to copy, and updates itself automatically.

By default, nothing is stored on the computer. On Windows, an optional history of the most recent dictations can be kept for easy copying — it can be turned off in the Helper's menu.

Yes. Pnyx syncs your modes, vocabulary, notes and settings through your own iCloud, so you get the same setup on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Sync goes through your iCloud account, not a Pnyx server.

Pnyx includes a notes editor where you dictate long texts directly, with live Markdown formatting. Notes sync via iCloud and can be starred to be kept.

Yes. Widgets show your statistics and world ranking, and Shortcuts let you start a dictation — choosing the mode — from the Shortcuts app or by asking Siri.

Download Pnyx for Mac from the site (macOS 26 or later). The app is notarized by Apple, opens normally, and updates automatically (Sparkle). On iPhone and iPad, updates go through the App Store.