For the sake of alternatives, I've had good experience with https://tryvoiceink.com/
Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
51–60 of 90 posts
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#52[deleted]
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#53I’ve been using this for a while now and I really enjoy it. I ran into a semi-obscure bug and emailed them and they basically fixed it the same day. I do wish there was a mobile app though (or maybe an iOS keyboard). It would also be nice to be able to have a separate hotkey you can set up to send the output to a specific app (instead of just the active one).
thanks! We're working on iOS, but it's tough to get the ergos right given all of Apple's restrictions and neglected APIs.
Android app please!
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#54I was very delighted by Aqua v1, which felt like magic at first. But I’ve noticed/learned that I can’t dictate written content. My brain just does not work that way at all — as I write I am constantly pausing to think, to revise, etc and it feels like a completely different part of my brain is engaged. Everything I dictated with Aqua I had to throw away and rewrite. Has anyone had similar problems, and if so, had any…
I use my (work) computer entirely with my voice, and it takes a lot of effort to work out what to actually write and to not ramble. Like you I've found that it's better to throw out words in sort of half sentence chunks, to give your brain time to work out what the next chunk is.
It's very hard, and I wouldn't do it if I didn't have to.
(which is why I'm always perplexed by these apps which allow voice dictation or voice control, but not as a complete accessibility package. I wouldn't be using my voice if my hands worked!)
It's also critically important (and after 3-4 years of this I still regularly fail at this) to actually read what you've written, and edit it before send, because those chunks don't always line up into something that I'd consider acceptably coherent. Even for a one sentence slack message.
(also, I have a kiwi accent, and the dictation software I use is not always perfect at getting what I wanted to say on the page)
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#55Is there going to be Linux support at some point?
We can do that, with some help from the community.
I'm a paying customer and I signed onto Aqua Voice shortly after your demo on HN.
My experience with it has been overall positive but mixed. I enjoy using it for dictation, but I found that issuing editing commands and having them recognized/executed often took a lot longer than making an edit myself (which I can't do while in dictation mode).
But as a paying customer, seeing you go in this direction is somewhat sad/frustrating. You're abandoning the product I use, and you're saying that if I want to see my platform supported, I or someone from the community has to provide it- for a fully proprietary paid application.
I understand that I'm a minority user, but it's a bit disappointing to read this.
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#56I was very delighted by Aqua v1, which felt like magic at first. But I’ve noticed/learned that I can’t dictate written content. My brain just does not work that way at all — as I write I am constantly pausing to think, to revise, etc and it feels like a completely different part of my brain is engaged. Everything I dictated with Aqua I had to throw away and rewrite. Has anyone had similar problems, and if so, had any…
I'm exactly the same. Aqua is so incredible and I really tried to like it, but I just can't get my brain to think of what I want to say first, I have to pause to think constantly.
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
fair point. offline+local would be ideal, but as it stands we can't run asr and an llm locally at the speed that is required to provide the level of service we want to. given that we need the cloud, we offer zero data retention -- you can see this in the app. your concern is as much about ux and communications as it is privacy
MacWhisper does realtime system-wide dictation on your local machine (among other things). Just a one-time fee for an app you download -- the way shareware is supposed to be. Of course it doesn't use MoE transcription with 6 models like Aqua Voice, but if you guys expect to be acquired by Apple (that is your exit strategy, right?), you're going to need better guarantees of privacy than "we don't log".
I downloaded the turbo whisper model optimized for Mac, created a python script that get the mic input and paste the result. The python script is LLM generated and it works with pushing a key.
For 80% of the functionality for free and done locally.
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#58I would like to try this, but I use Synergy to use two computers with the same keyboard. I have Aqua Voice now on the server computer, would be great if I could input text to the client computer using it as well.
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#59This looks like it'll slurp up all your data and upload it into a cloud. Thanks, no. I want privacy, offline mode and source code for something as crucial to system security as an input method. "we also collect and process your voice inputs [..] We leverage this data for improvements and development [..] Sharing of your information [..] service providers [..] OpenAI" https://withaqua.com/privacy
fair point. offline+local would be ideal, but as it stands we can't run asr and an llm locally at the speed that is required to provide the level of service we want to. given that we need the cloud, we offer zero data retention -- you can see this in the app. your concern is as much about ux and communications as it is privacy
The problem if you actually need the cloud is that it kind of completely destroys your business model. OpenAI is bleeding money every month because they massively subsidize the hosting cost of their models. But eventually they will have to post a profit. And then if they know that your product is completely dependent on their API, they can milk you until there's no profits left for you.
And self-hosting real-time streaming LLMs will probably also come out at 50 cents per hour. Arguing a $120/month price for power users is probably going to be very difficult. Especially so if there is free open-source alternatives.
Re: Show HN: Aqua Voice 2 – Fast Voice Input for Mac and Windows
#60Real-time text output à la Apple Dictation with the accuracy of Whisper is something I've been looking for recently - I'll definitely give Aqua a spin. MacWhisper [0] (the app I settled on) is conspicuously missing from your benchmarks [1]. How does it compare? [0]: https://goodsnooze.gumroad.com/l/macwhisper [1]: https://withaqua.com/blog/benchmark-nov-2024
We're more accurate and much faster than Mac Whisper, even their strongest model (Whisper Cpp Large V3). For that benchmarking table, you can use Whisper Large V3 as a stand-in for Mac Whisper and Super Whisper accuracy.
I've been using Superwhisperapp for over a year and I get nothing like the error level your comparison table suggests. Which model were you using with it?
Aqua looks good and I will be testing it, but I do like that with superwhisper nothing leaves my computer unless I add AI integrations.