SpeechBee

Guide

Dictate notes on a Mac

Notes are the easiest thing to dictate: short, rough, and written for you. Whether you keep them in Apple Notes, Notion or Obsidian, your Mac's dictation types into any of them. Here's how, and a simple routine for capturing ideas by voice.

By the SpeechBee team, who make SpeechBee. Checked on 13 October 2026

On this page
  1. It works in any notes app
  2. A quick-capture routine
  3. Markdown apps
  4. A one-key dictation app
  5. Questions
  6. Keep reading
  7. Sources

It works in any notes app

Dictation types into whatever text field has the cursor, so the steps are the same in Apple Notes, Notion, Obsidian, Bear or a plain text file: click where you want the text, start dictation, talk.

A quick-capture routine

  1. Keep a capture note pinned or open.
  2. Say the idea plainly, without worrying about wording.
  3. Say "new paragraph" between ideas.
  4. Tidy later, in one pass, when you're at the keyboard.

Markdown apps

In Notion and Obsidian, dictation enters plain text. Add headings, checkboxes and links by keyboard afterwards, or set up snippets in a dictation app for text you repeat.

A one-key dictation app

If you capture a lot, one key that starts instantly beats clicking a microphone. SpeechBee, which we make, lets you hold a key in Notes, Notion, Obsidian or any app, talk, and let go. It transcribes on your Mac, so private notes stay private, and its snippets can expand a short spoken cue into a template. The iPhone keyboard does the same on your phone.

Voice to text
New message

Hi Maya, I'll send the revised proposal tomorrow morning.

SpeechBee's listening indicator on Mac
Hold your key, talk, let go. The text lands at the cursor.
Text to speech
Article

Most people read faster than they speak. SpeechBee reads the sentence you selected out loud, while you keep working.

SpeechBee's Read Aloud player on Mac
Select text, press your reading key, listen.

Capture notes by voice in any app. Free for 7 days.

Voice to text and Read Aloud on your Mac, iPhone and iPad. After the week, $9 a month, $79 a year, or $99 once. Every plan has every feature.

Download for MacGet it for iPhone & iPad

Questions

Can I dictate into Notion on a Mac?

Yes. Click in a Notion page and use Mac Dictation or a dictation app; both type into any text field.

Can I dictate into Obsidian?

Yes, the same way. Obsidian receives dictated text like typed text.

How do I dictate notes on iPhone?

Open the note and tap the microphone on the keyboard.

Keep reading

Sources

Checked on 13 October 2026.