Which permissions does it need, and why?

On a Mac, Dictate Safe needs two permissions: the microphone, to hear you, and Accessibility, to type into other apps. On Windows, typing needs no permission, and microphone access is a setting in Windows itself. Guided setup asks for what your computer needs the first time you open the app.

#Microphone on a Mac

Needed to hear you at all. Without it, Dictate Safe cannot record anything.

1. Open Settings → About.
2. Under Permissions, press Allow next to Microphone.

#Accessibility, on a Mac

This is the permission that lets one application send keystrokes to another. Dictate Safe uses it only to type your dictation, and to insert a prompt you picked, into the app you are working in.

1. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
2. Find Dictate Safe in the list and turn it on.

#Microphone on Windows

Windows decides which apps may use the microphone, and it does not let other apps read that setting, so Dictate Safe cannot show you whether it is allowed. If recording does not work, check it in Windows.

1. Open Settings → About in Dictate Safe.
2. Press Open settings next to Microphone.
3. In the Windows page that opens, make sure microphone access is on, and that desktop apps are allowed to use it.

#Two that only appear if you use them

• Speech Recognition, on a Mac. Asked for only if you set the speech engine to Apple or Auto. See Apple’s speech engine or the built-in one.
• Notifications, on a Mac. Asked for the first time you turn on Keep Awake, which uses a notification for its five-minute warning. Allow it if you want that warning while you are away from the window.