Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
A Mac has a separate section of dictation commands called “Math symbols”: equals, greater than, less than, minus, the multiplication sign and plus, each said aloud as a separate phrase. Potok (potok.now) has no voice commands at all, and it has no separate phrase for these signs: its free plan gives only 2500 words per week on one device.
Formulas and mathematical expressions are not only numbers: they contain signs of equality, comparison and arithmetic operations. In ordinary speech such signs are not pronounced as words, so dictating them needs a separate voice command, as for any other symbol.
How to dictate a formula or math signs on a Mac
Before dictating a formula, you need to turn Dictation on once: Apple menu, then System Settings, in it the Keyboard → Dictation section → the Enable button. After that you start it each time anew: with the microphone key in the row of function keys (if there is one), with your own dictation keyboard shortcut or with the Start Dictation item in the Edit menu.
Apple's official list of dictation commands gives math a separate section called “Math symbols”: it has six commands, the sign “equals” (=), the sign “greater than”, the sign “less than”, the sign “minus” (−), the multiplication sign (×) and the sign “plus” (+).
On a Mac you dictate a formula like this: you name numbers and variables with ordinary words, and instead of each math sign you say the matching command from this list. An exponent, a fraction and a root are not described in the “Math symbols” section: the official list has no commands for them.
What to say on a Mac for a formula
- “iks v kvadrate znak plyus igrek v kvadrate znak ravno zet” (x squared, plus sign, y squared, equals sign, z) is our example phrase for dictating a formula; “znak plyus” (plus sign) and “znak ravno” (equals sign) are commands from the official list, and the other words of this example have no separate voice commands in the official list.
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- Free
- Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed
- Pro
- Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly
- Payment
- Russian bank cards, rubles
- Where speech is recognized
- cloud, servers in Russia; internet required
Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Download: potok.now/download
Where Potok reaches its limit
Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without an internet connection. It has no voice commands at all, and it has no separate phrase for the signs equals, greater than, less than, minus, multiplication or plus; Potok has no section of math symbols like Mac dictation. The free limit of 2500 words per week may not be enough for someone who dictates a lot of formulas every day. How dictation is set up on any MacBook in general is in a separate breakdown about voice input on a MacBook, and the basic steps for converting speech to text on a computer are in the article about the dictation process itself.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. In the “Math symbols” section of the official list of Mac dictation commands there is the command “znak plyus” (plus sign).
No: Potok has no voice commands at all, and it has no separate phrase for the equals sign.
Apple menu → System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation → turn it on and confirm with the button that says “Vklyuchit” (Turn on in Russian). Then start it like this: the microphone key (if there is one in the row of function keys), the dictation keyboard shortcut or Edit → Start Dictation.
It depends on the Mac. On a Mac with Apple Silicon, ordinary text dictation (messages, notes, but not the search field) is processed on the device; on Intel Macs and in some scenarios the sound goes to Apple servers, and then the internet is needed. You can see it exactly in System Settings → Keyboard: under Dictation it says whether the internet is needed and whether speech is processed on the device.
Turn on Dictation: Apple menu → System Settings → Keyboard → Dictation. Then put the cursor in a text field, start dictation (the microphone key, if there is one in the row of function keys, the dictation keyboard shortcut or Edit → Start Dictation) and begin to speak.
The built-in macOS Dictation supports Russian. Potok is a separate app with its own model trained for Russian speech, including terms and Russian mixed with English; the text is inserted into the active field of any app.
If you want to compare for yourself
Take one of your own tasks and dictate it in Potok. The first 14 days have no limits and need no card. Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokOne subscription, two tools: dictation in any program on your computer and @potok_now_bot in Telegram, which transcribes voice messages, audio and video.
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows voice typing (Win+H) | Windows 10 and 11 | Windows 11 only | Microsoft cloud, does not work offline |
| macOS Dictation | macOS | yes | on the device or on Apple servers |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
| Task | Characters | Typing (200 chars/min) | Voice (900 chars/min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| chat reply | 300 | 2 min | 0.5 min |
| 1500 | 8 min | 1.7 min | |
| post or meeting minutes | 4000 | 20 min | 4.4 min |
| article | 10000 | 50 min | 11.1 min |
Primary sources: support.apple.com · support.microsoft.com · support.apple.com