MAC DICTATION PRIVACY PATHS — JOURNALIST DATA BRIEF

Publisher: IraVoice for Mac
Dataset: Mac Dictation Privacy Matrix: Local vs Cloud
Version: 1.4.0
Reviewed: July 26, 2026
License: CC BY 4.0
Canonical research page:
https://iravoice.com/research/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix

WHAT THE DATA SHOW

- 16 of 18 reviewed Mac dictation products document at least one local
  speech-to-text path.
- 2 of 18 reviewed products have no documented local speech-to-text path in
  the first-party sources reviewed.
- 10 of the 16 locally capable products also document an optional connected
  provider, cleanup, assistant, vocabulary, or agent path.
- 33 first-party product, help, privacy, security, launch, App Store, and
  repository sources support the product rows.

THE EDITORIAL FINDING

"Local speech recognition" does not describe the whole workflow. A product can
transcribe microphone audio on the Mac and still send transcript text, selected
text, vocabulary data, or a finished specification through an optional
connected feature. Those connected paths do not all send microphone audio.

"Zero retention" is also not a synonym for on-device processing. It describes
what a service says it keeps after processing; it does not establish where
speech recognition happens.

METHODOLOGY AND LIMITS

The matrix reviews dated first-party public documentation and separates five
boundaries: speech processing, configurable cloud paths, offline availability,
retention, and accounts. Named cohorts appear in the JSON so every count can be
recomputed.

This is documentation research, not packet inspection, source-code verification,
a security audit, a product ranking, or a claim that one architecture fits every
workflow. Product versions, settings, policies, and availability can change.
Keep the review date and version with every quoted statistic.

PREFERRED CITATION

IraVoice for Mac. Mac Dictation Privacy Matrix: Local vs Cloud. Version 1.4.0,
reviewed July 26, 2026.
https://iravoice.com/research/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix

DATA AND CITATION DOWNLOADS

CSV:
https://iravoice.com/research/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix.csv

JSON:
https://iravoice.com/research/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix.json

BibTeX:
https://iravoice.com/research/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix.bib

Citation File Format:
https://iravoice.com/research/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix.cff

Public repository:
https://github.com/mvplab-ai/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix

Versioned release:
https://github.com/mvplab-ai/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix/releases/tag/v1.4.0

Public Hugging Face mirror:
https://huggingface.co/datasets/researchaudio/mac-dictation-privacy-matrix

CORRECTIONS

Verify current claims against the linked first-party sources. If a product's
documentation or configuration has changed, cite the affected row and source
on the canonical research page when requesting a correction.