Software engineers, SREs, platform engineers

Dictation for software developers

You write code with your hands. You write the words around the code with your hands too. Voiacast moves the second job to your voice so the first job keeps the keyboard.

Before

Every commit, every PR, every long Slack reply costs the same wrist budget as the code itself. By Wednesday afternoon you keep PR descriptions to one line because your wrists ache. The README rots because the cost of writing a paragraph is too high to repay the benefit.

After

You hold a key, you talk, the paragraph appears in the field your cursor is in. The commit body explains the why. The PR description carries context. The README catches up. Your wrists are still working on Saturday.

Jobs to be done

What this scenario is for.

Write the commit message that explains the why, not the diff.
Draft the PR description without leaving the diff view.
Reply to Slack threads with longer-than-one-line responses.
Capture the design-doc paragraph that just unblocked itself in your head.

How to

Step by step.

Bind a hotkey that doesn't fight your editor. The default hold-Option-Space avoids most editor shortcuts. If your editor binds it, pick another two-key combination — hold-Option-` and hold-Control-Space are common.
Add your jargon to the custom dictionary. Open the menu-bar app and add the technical terms that mis-transcribe by default — Kubernetes, Next.js, your service names, your team's acronyms. They will spell the way you spell them on every transcription.
Use it for the words around the code, not the code itself. Dictation is great for commit messages, PR descriptions, design docs, code comments, and Slack replies. It is not the right tool for typing identifiers or shell commands — those stay on the keyboard.
Reach for it in the terminal too. Voiacast types into terminals as well as graphical text fields. Use it for git commit -m bodies, for replies to GitHub issues from the gh CLI, and for any prose you would otherwise have switched applications to write.

Frequently asked

Questions, answered briefly.

Will it work in my editor?

If your editor accepts pasted text from any other Mac app, Voiacast will type into it. The Accessibility-API typing path covers most editors; synthetic key events handle the rest.

Can I dictate code?

Sort of. You can dictate the prose around the code well, and short code keywords pass through. For identifiers and shell commands the keyboard is still faster and more accurate. The dictionary helps with common technical terms.

Is the dictionary good for code-shaped vocabulary?

Yes. It is exactly what the dictionary is for. Add the names of your services, your team's acronyms, and the technical terms that keep mis-transcribing. They get applied on every transcription automatically.

Does it work in tmux and terminal multiplexers?

Yes. Voiacast types as a keystroke stream — anything that accepts keystrokes accepts dictation. tmux, screen, ssh sessions, and remote terminals all accept the dictated text.

Can I use it for pair programming?

It can transcribe spoken explanations into a shared Slack channel or a notes file, but it is not a voice-to-pair-programming agent. The scope is dictation that types into the focused field.