Bolikh
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Bolikh bol “speak” + likh “write”

Hold a key. Speak. Bolikh writes it.

Your speech becomes clean text in any app: email, team chat, documents, the terminal, the browser. It runs on your own computer, so your voice never leaves it.

Download Bolikh How it works
Available for macOS Windows Linux
Works offline No account Open source 25 languages Fillers removed
Mail · New message
ToPriya Mehta
SubjectThursday review
Right ⌥ Option Hold the key on your keyboard to try it here.
How it works

Three moves, in any text box.

Click where you want the text, then use one key. There is nothing to switch to and no window to copy from.

1

Hold

Press and hold your dictation key: Right Option on a Mac, Right Ctrl on Windows and Linux. A small bar at the bottom of the screen shows Bolikh is listening.

2

Speak

Talk the way you normally would. Pauses, “um”s and “uh”s are fine. Say “new paragraph” or “new line” to format as you go.

3

Release

Let go. In a fraction of a second the cleaned-up text appears where your cursor is, and your clipboard is put back the way it was.

Clean text, first time

You talk like a person. It writes like an editor.

What you said

So um I was thinking we could, uh, move the meeting to Friday hmm if that works for everyone.

What gets typed

So I was thinking we could move the meeting to Friday if that works for everyone.

Um, uh, hmm, erm and mm are removed, and the commas around them are tidied up.

Features

Small app, careful details.

Three ways to use the key

Pick your key and how it behaves. On a Mac: Right or Left Option, Right Ctrl, Right Cmd, Right Shift or Fn. On Windows and Linux: Right or Left Alt, Right Ctrl, Right Windows key or Right Shift. Press Esc at any time to cancel.

SmartHold to talk. Tap once to keep listening hands-free, tap again to finish.
HoldRecords only while the key is held down.
ToggleTap to start, tap to stop.

Fast on ordinary laptops

In our tests on an Apple Silicon Mac, a 9.5-second sentence was transcribed in 0.24 seconds. No graphics card needed.

Works in every app

If you can type in it, you can dictate into it: mail, chat, browsers, office apps, terminals and code editors.

Voice commands

Say “new line”, “next line” or “new paragraph” and Bolikh formats the text instead of typing the words.

Personal dictionary

Teach it how to spell names, brands and jargon. Every time it hears one, it writes it your way.

Your clipboard stays yours

Text is pasted through the clipboard, then whatever you had copied before (text or an image) is put back.

History on your device

Your last 200 dictations stay on your computer so you can copy one again. Turn it off or clear it any time. Audio is never saved.

Quiet until you need it

Lives in the menu bar or system tray, can start when you log in, and plays soft start and stop tones you can switch off.

Languages

Speaks 25 languages. Knows which one you're using.

Talk in any of these and Bolikh writes it in that language, with punctuation and capitals. There is no language menu to change.

EnglishEnglish
SpanishEspañol
FrenchFrançais
GermanDeutsch
ItalianItaliano
PortuguesePortuguês
DutchNederlands
PolishPolski
RussianРусский
UkrainianУкраїнська
SwedishSvenska
DanishDansk
FinnishSuomi
CzechČeština
SlovakSlovenčina
SlovenianSlovenščina
CroatianHrvatski
BulgarianБългарски
RomanianRomână
HungarianMagyar
GreekΕλληνικά
EstonianEesti
LatvianLatviešu
LithuanianLietuvių
MalteseMalti
Privacy

Your voice never leaves your computer.

Many dictation apps send your audio to a server. Bolikh runs the speech model on your own machine. After a one-time model download it works with Wi-Fi switched off. The code is public, so anyone can check this.

Read the privacy policySee the source code
Your audioProcessed in memory on your computer, then discarded.
Your textTyped into your app. Kept in local history only if you want it.
Speech modelNVIDIA Parakeet TDT 0.6B v3, downloaded once (about 670 MB) and checked against a fixed fingerprint.
Sent to usNothing. No account, no analytics, no recordings.
Download · version 0.2.1

One app for macOS, Windows and Linux.

Pick your system. On first launch, Bolikh walks you through microphone and permission setup and downloads the speech model.

Disk space: about 1 GB, including the speech model. Memory: 8 GB RAM recommended. Any microphone, built-in is fine.
Setup

Ready in about five minutes.

Bolikh’s setup screen takes you through each step and ticks it off when it’s done. Here are the same steps, so you know what to expect.

  1. 1

    Install

    Open the .dmg you downloaded and drag Bolikh into Applications. Then open Bolikh from Applications.

    If macOS says it can’t verify Bolikh, see “macOS won’t open Bolikh” below.

  2. 2

    Allow the microphone

    Click Test in the setup screen and say a few words. macOS asks if Bolikh may use the microphone: click Allow. Bolikh then tells you the microphone works.

  3. 3

    Turn on Accessibility

    Click Open Settings in Bolikh. In Privacy & Security → Accessibility, switch Bolikh on, then come back. The step ticks itself off.

    This lets the key work while you’re in other apps, and lets Bolikh paste for you.

  4. 4

    Let the speech model download

    Bolikh downloads its speech model once (about 670 MB) and shows the progress. After that it works offline.

  5. 5

    Try it

    Click in the practice box, hold Right Option, say a sentence and let go. Bolikh then waits in the menu bar. Open Settings from there to change the key or how it behaves.

Setup questions

Does Bolikh work on my Mac?

Open the Apple menu → About This Mac. If it says Chip: Apple M1 (or M2, M3, M4 and later), Bolikh works. If it says Processor: Intel, it doesn’t yet: the speech engine Bolikh uses isn’t available for Intel Macs at the moment.

macOS won’t open Bolikh (“Apple could not verify…”)

Click Done, then open System Settings → Privacy & Security. Scroll down, click Open Anyway next to the Bolikh message, and confirm. You only need to do this the first time.

Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”

Click More info, then Run anyway. You only need to do this the first time.

Bolikh is switched on in Accessibility, but the key does nothing

This can happen after an update. In Privacy & Security → Accessibility, select Bolikh, remove it with the − button, then open Bolikh and switch it on again.

The key does nothing on Linux

Run groups and check that input is in the list. If you only just added it, log out and back in. On Wayland, also check that wtype or ydotool is installed. Bolikh’s setup screen shows which of these is missing.

The text doesn’t appear in one particular app

On Windows, Bolikh can’t type into apps that run as administrator unless Bolikh runs as administrator too. On Linux, most terminals paste with Ctrl+Shift+V, which Bolikh doesn’t send yet, so dictating into a Linux terminal doesn’t work for now. Terminals on macOS and Windows work.

Bolikh is listening to the wrong microphone

Bolikh uses your system’s default input. Change it in your sound settings (macOS: System Settings → Sound → Input; Windows: Settings → System → Sound → Input), then try again.

The speech model download stopped or failed

Check your internet connection and that about 1 GB of disk space is free, then click Retry in the setup screen. On office networks, the firewall must allow huggingface.co. Every file is checked when it arrives, so an interrupted download can’t leave a broken model behind.

macOS says Bolikh “is damaged and can’t be opened”

The download is fine. macOS shows this for apps that aren’t notarized by Apple yet. Move Bolikh to Applications, open Terminal and run:

xattr -cr /Applications/Bolikh.app

Then open Bolikh again.

I clicked “Don’t Allow” for the microphone

macOS: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone, switch Bolikh on, then quit and reopen Bolikh. Windows: Settings → Privacy & security → Microphone, turn on microphone access and “Let desktop apps access your microphone”.

My antivirus warns about Bolikh or removes it

Bolikh isn’t code-signed yet, and some antivirus tools are suspicious of any unsigned app. Bolikh contains no ads, trackers or network code beyond the one model download, and its full source code is public. Restore it from quarantine or add it to your antivirus’ allowed apps.

The Windows installer wants to download WebView2

Bolikh’s window uses Microsoft Edge WebView2, which Windows 11 and most updated Windows 10 PCs already have. If yours doesn’t, the installer downloads it from Microsoft automatically. This needs an internet connection and only happens once.

Linux says there are dependency problems

Install with apt rather than dpkg -i: sudo apt install ./Bolikh-linux-amd64.deb downloads everything Bolikh needs from your distribution. If you already used dpkg, run sudo apt -f install to finish. On Fedora, dnf install handles this automatically.

Linux shows an error mentioning GLIBC

Your distribution is older than Bolikh supports (for example Ubuntu 22.04 or Debian 12). Bolikh needs Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, Fedora 40 or newer.

I hold the key and nothing happens at all

Bolikh has to be running: look for its icon in the menu bar (Mac) or system tray (Windows, Linux) and open it if it isn’t there. Turn on Launch at login in Settings so it’s always ready. Also check that setup is finished: every step in the setup screen should have a tick.

The text appears in the wrong place

Bolikh types wherever your cursor is when you let go of the key. Click into the text box first, then hold the key and speak.

Some words come out wrong

Speak at a normal pace, keep a steady distance from the microphone and reduce background noise. A headset helps in noisy rooms. For names and jargon it keeps getting wrong, add them in the Dictionary tab.

How do I update to a new version?

Download the new version from this page and install it over the old one. Your settings, dictionary and history are kept. On macOS you may need to switch Bolikh on in Accessibility again after updating (see above).

How do I change the key or how it behaves?

Open Bolikh’s Settings. Dictation key picks the key and Behaviour picks Smart, Hold or Toggle. Fn is available on Macs only.

There’s no tray icon on Linux

Ubuntu shows tray icons out of the box. On GNOME in Fedora or Arch, install the AppIndicator extension. Without a tray, Bolikh keeps its window open so you can still reach Settings.

How do I uninstall Bolikh?

macOS: drag Bolikh from Applications to the Bin. Windows: Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Bolikh → Uninstall. Linux: sudo apt remove bolikh or sudo dnf remove bolikh.

Questions

Good to know.

What does “Bolikh” mean?

It joins two Hindi and Urdu words: bol, “speak”, and likh, “write”. That is the whole app: you speak, it writes.

Does it need the internet?

Only once, to download the speech model on first launch. After that, dictation works fully offline.

Which apps does it work with?

Any app where you can type: Gmail and other web apps, Outlook, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp Desktop, Word, Google Docs, Notion, VS Code, terminals and more. It types at your cursor by pasting, the same way you would.

Which languages can I speak?

English and 24 other European languages, shown above. Bolikh detects the language on its own. Hindi and Urdu are planned for a later version.

Why does it remove “um” and “uh”?

Filler sounds are almost never wanted in written text, so they are taken out and the sentence is tidied up. Real words are left alone. You can switch this off in Settings if you want a word-for-word transcript.

Does Bolikh record or store my voice?

No. Audio stays in memory only while you speak and is discarded as soon as it has been turned into text. Nothing is sent to us or anyone else.

Is Bolikh open source?

Yes. The full source code is on GitHub under the GPL-3.0 licence, so anyone can read it, check what it does with their voice, and build it themselves.

How much does it cost?

Downloading and trying Bolikh is free. Pricing will be announced before version 1.0.

Who makes Bolikh?

Aazad Software Solutions, a software studio that builds apps, websites and AI automation. The speech model is NVIDIA's Parakeet TDT 0.6B v3, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence.

Bol. Likh.

Write emails, messages and notes by talking.

For macOS, Windows and Linux. No account to create.

Download Bolikh