Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
You can dictate text on a MacBook once dictation is turned on in the settings: start it with the microphone key, the dictation shortcut or Edit → Start Dictation, then just speak, naming punctuation marks as separate words. You can also type by voice on a Mac through Potok (potok.now), which gives about 900 characters per minute by voice versus 200 when typing.
Dictation is already turned on in the settings, but what to do next is unclear: just speak into the void, or do you have to start it somehow first? On a MacBook there is a separate step between turning it on and the speech itself, and punctuation marks there are not a space but a word.
How to dictate text on a MacBook, step by step
- If dictation is not yet turned on in System Settings, go through that step first. It is covered in the article on turning on voice input on a Mac.
- Put the cursor in a text field: an email, a note, a document or any other place where text is usually entered.
- Start dictation in one of three ways: press the microphone key in the function key row, if there is one on the keyboard; press the dictation shortcut set in the settings; or open the Edit menu and choose Start Dictation.
- Speak at a normal pace. What you say appears in the field as it is recognized.
- Name punctuation marks, a line break, letter case and numbers as separate command words. The official list divides them into the sections Punctuation, Styling, Formatting, Capital letters, Math symbols and Currency. For example, the command “chislo” (number) turns the next phrase you say into digits.
If it did not work
If dictation does not appear after starting or does not react to your voice, there is a separate breakdown of causes in the article on why dictation on a MacBook is silent.
Where Potok cannot do this
Potok is not a replacement for built-in Mac dictation but a separate desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux: typing starts with its own hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default) in any active field. Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. Potok has no voice commands: the commands from the Mac dictation list, such as “tochka” (period), “chislo” (number), “verkhniy registr” (uppercase) and others, are not spoken to Potok, but it places punctuation, capital letters and numbers itself, without a single command. Potok also has no offline mode and no apps for iPhone.
Frequently asked questions
Say the word “chislo” (number), and the next phrase you say will be recognized as digits. This command is in the Formatting section of the official list of Mac dictation commands, separate from the other marks and letter case.
Yes, macOS built-in dictation supports Russian. Voice Control is a separate feature with text editing by voice, and it has Russian too; while it is on, standard Dictation is unavailable.
Dictation pays off most for long texts written off the cuff: email drafts, notes, replies in messengers, lecture notes, and also when your hands are busy or tired (for example with RSI). For short precise edits (one-word commands, code), typing is often faster.
By a model estimate, the average dictation speed with Potok is about 900 characters per minute versus about 200 characters per minute with ordinary typing, so speech is noticeably faster than the keyboard.
Yes. Windows has built-in voice input on Win+H (Russian only in Windows 11, no Russian in Windows 10; it does not work without the internet), and on a Mac there is system dictation in the keyboard settings. Both are free.
Voice input converts speech to text on the fly: the user speaks, and the program transcribes the sound with speech recognition technology (ASR) and inserts the resulting text into the active field, such as email, a messenger or a document. In Potok it works through a hotkey: hold it, speak, release, and the text is inserted.
Check it in one evening
Install Potok, dictate what you usually type and compare. 14 days of full access, no card needed. Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokExisting recordings are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send a file or a YouTube, VK Video or RuTube link and the text arrives in the chat. The Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot too.
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