Technical specifications

Sophist system requirements and technical details

Everything your IT team needs to evaluate Sophist: supported platforms, hardware, speech engines, offline operation and where data is processed.

Sophist for Mac

Operating system: macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later
Processor: Mac with Apple Silicon (M-series)
App size: About 71 MB installed, about 34 MB installer (DMG)
App type: Native Mac app, no embedded browser runtime
Updates: Signed automatic updates inside the app

Sophist for Windows

Operating system: Windows 10 and Windows 11
App type: Lightweight desktop app that dictates into any application

Speech recognition

Engines: 23 providers to choose from: 5 on-device engines and 18 cloud engines
Default: An on-device engine is preselected out of the box
Languages: Depends on the engine: up to 99 on-device (WhisperKit), 60+ live (Soniox)
Vocabulary: Key terms, personal dictionary, replacements and domain knowledge
Files: Transcribe audio and video files by drag and drop

AI writing and privacy

AI providers: 11 providers to choose from, or fully on-device with Apple Intelligence / MLX
API keys: Bring your own keys, billed directly by the provider without markup
Account: No account required for the Mac app
Privacy Mode: Keeps processing on the device and blocks tools that would share content

Offline and secure environments

Offline use: With on-device engines, dictation works without an internet connection
Sophist Hestia: A separate edition that runs 100% locally, built for legal, government and security work
Teams: Company accounts with access codes, device management and usage overviews for admins

Sophist – Speech to Text App for Mac and Windows

Sophist is a professional dictation app for macOS and Windows. Dictate into any app with one shortcut, edit text by voice in Compose Mode, transcribe meetings and get feedback from the Meeting Coach. An on-device speech engine is preselected, so audio stays on your Mac by default.

Privacy and offline use

Choose from 23 speech engines (5 on-device, 18 cloud) and 11 AI providers, or run AI clean-up fully on-device with Apple Intelligence or MLX. Privacy Mode keeps processing on the device. Sophist Hestia is a separate edition that runs 100% locally for legal, government and security work.

Requirements

Mac with Apple Silicon and macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later, about 71 MB installed. Windows 10 and 11. No account required for the Mac app.

Teams and integrations

Company accounts with access codes, device management and usage overviews. Hey Anna works in Superhuman Mail, and an MCP server shares meetings and tasks read-only with Claude Desktop and Claude Code.

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