Voice to Text for Apple Notes
Your best ideas don't wait for you to find a keyboard. You're walking, cooking, or lying in bed when inspiration strikes. Apple Notes syncs everywhere, but typing on your Mac still slows you down. Blurt lets you capture thoughts by speaking — hold a button, say what's on your mind, release. Your words appear in Notes instantly. No dictation button hunting. No Siri required. Just talk and capture.
The Typing Problem
Ideas disappear while you hunt for the right note
You have the perfect sentence in your head. You open Notes, find the right folder, click into the note, position your cursor — and the thought is gone. By the time you're ready to type, you're staring at a blinking cursor trying to remember what felt so brilliant 30 seconds ago. The friction between thought and capture is just enough to kill momentum.
Quick notes aren't quick when you have to type them
Lock screen Quick Notes are supposed to be fast. But typing on your Mac means hands on keyboard, eyes on screen, fingers finding keys. For a quick reminder or fleeting thought, that's still too much friction. You wanted 'pick up dry cleaning Tuesday' to take 2 seconds, not 12. The overhead makes you skip notes you should have captured.
Checklists take forever to build
You're planning a trip, organizing a project, or making a grocery list. Each item means type, enter, type, enter. Twenty items means twenty rounds of keyboard work. By item twelve, you're rushing through or forgetting things. The checklist that would have been thorough becomes incomplete because typing each line is tedious.
Meeting notes can't keep up with the conversation
You're in a meeting trying to capture key points in Notes. Someone makes an important comment while you're still typing the last one. Your fingers can't keep up with the discussion. You abbreviate, miss context, and end up with notes that don't make sense two days later. Your notes are supposed to help you remember, but they're incomplete.
Long-form thinking gets lost to typing fatigue
You're journaling, brainstorming, or working through a complex problem in Notes. After ten minutes of typing, your fingers are tired and your thoughts start fragmenting. The physical act of typing interrupts your mental flow. You cut your session short not because you ran out of ideas, but because typing is exhausting.
How It Works
Blurt works anywhere you can type on your Mac — including every part of Apple Notes, from quick notes to folders to checklists.
Hold your hotkey
Press your chosen shortcut with your cursor in any Notes text area. A small indicator shows Blurt is listening.
Talk naturally
Say your note, your list item, your meeting observation. Blurt handles punctuation automatically.
Release and done
Text appears in Notes at your cursor. Keep speaking for more, or move on. No extra steps.
Real Scenarios
Capturing ideas the moment they arrive
You're staring out the window when the solution to a problem you've been chewing on suddenly clicks. Open Notes, cursor in your ideas folder, hold hotkey, and speak: 'The issue with the proposal is we're solving the wrong problem. We should reframe around customer retention, not acquisition. Talk to Sarah about the Q3 data.' Thought captured in 8 seconds. Back to staring.
Building checklists by talking through them
You're packing for a trip and need a checklist. Instead of typing each item, you hold the hotkey and speak naturally: 'Passport. Phone charger. Laptop and charger. Three days of clothes. Toiletries kit. Work notebook. Headphones. Snacks for the flight.' Release. Eight items captured in one breath. Now you can actually focus on packing.
Meeting notes that actually capture everything
You're in a one-on-one and your manager shares important feedback. Hold hotkey, speak quietly: 'Maria wants the Q4 proposal by Friday. She's concerned about scope creep. Suggests I loop in David for technical review before the exec meeting.' Done in 5 seconds, no typing, no missing the next thing she says. Your notes are actually useful later.
Quick notes from the Lock Screen
Your Mac is locked and a thought hits you. Swipe for Quick Note, hold your hotkey, say 'Call mom about the birthday dinner reservation.' Text appears. Close it. The note syncs to your iPhone, iPad, everywhere. Total time: 4 seconds. The thought didn't escape.
Journaling without typing fatigue
You journal every morning but some days your hands don't want to cooperate. Hold hotkey and just talk through your thoughts: 'Feeling anxious about the presentation tomorrow. Need to run through the slides one more time. Also, the gym at lunch will help with the nerves. Remember to call the dentist.' Stream of consciousness captured. No typing endurance required.
Adding context to tables and organized notes
You're building a comparison table in Notes — features versus products, pros versus cons. Each cell needs a quick description. Hold hotkey, speak 'Supports offline mode with full sync when reconnected', release. Move to next cell. Hold, speak, release. Filling out structured notes becomes conversational, not tedious.
Brainstorming without the friction
You're brainstorming product ideas and want to capture everything without filtering. Hold hotkey and let it flow: 'What if we let users set custom notification sounds? Or mute specific threads? Or have a digest mode for low-priority channels?' Three ideas captured in one breath. Keep going. The ideas flow faster when you're not typing each one.
Why Notes users choose Blurt over built-in dictation
| Blurt | macOS Dictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Activation | Single hotkey, instant start | Double-tap Fn key or click dictation icon |
| Speed | Text appears in under 500ms | Noticeable delay before transcription begins |
| Reliability | Consistent performance every time | Sometimes doesn't activate, fails silently |
| Control | Hold to record, release to finish — precise control | Tap to start, tap to stop — easy to forget to stop |
Frequently Asked Questions
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