Setup guide

How to set up Flit on your Mac

Five minutes to your first dictation.

Download Flit 1.0.6

21 MB · macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon

Step 1

Install Flit

  1. Open Flit-1.0.6.dmg from your Downloads folder.
  2. Drag the Flit icon into the Applications folder.
  3. Open Flit from Applications. The first time, macOS asks whether you want to open an app downloaded from the internet. Click Open.
Flit 1.0.6
Flit
Applications
Drag Flit onto Applications. That is the whole install.

Flit lives in the menu bar as a small bird icon, not in the Dock. A welcome window walks you through the next steps.

Step 2

Allow microphone and accessibility

Flit asks for two macOS permissions. Click Grant Access on each card in the welcome window.

Microphone

So Flit can hear you. Audio is transcribed on your Mac and never sent anywhere.

Accessibility

So Flit can see the Fn key and type at your cursor. Without it, the Fn key does nothing and text only goes to your clipboard.

Accessibility opens System Settings instead of a pop-up. Go to Privacy & Security → Accessibility and switch Flit on. If Flit is not in the list, click the plus button and add it from Applications. The welcome window notices within a second.

Privacy & Security › Accessibility
>_ Terminal
Flit
On: Flit can see the Fn key and type at your cursor. Off: the Fn key does nothing, and text only lands on your clipboard.

Step 3 · The one most people miss

Set up the Fn (🌐) key

You dictate by holding the Fn key, the one marked 🌐 on newer Mac keyboards. But macOS uses that same key to open the emoji picker, so until you change one setting, holding Fn opens emojis as well as Flit.

  1. Open System Settings → Keyboard. In Flit, Settings → Keyboard has an Open Keyboard Settings button that takes you there.
  2. Find “Press 🌐 key to”.
  3. Change it to “Do Nothing”.
Keyboard
Key repeat rateFast
Press 🌐 key to
Keyboard navigationOff
Holding Fn now starts Flit and nothing else.

Try the menu: each choice shows what it would do.

Is Apple Dictation on too?

In the same Keyboard settings, under Dictation, check the shortcut. If it uses the 🌐 key, choose a different shortcut or turn Apple Dictation off, so the two do not start together.

Rather not use Fn?

Open Flit Settings → Keyboard, set Activation key to Custom shortcut, and press the combination you want. It needs Command, Control or Option. The default is ⌥ Space.

Step 4

Choose a speech engine

The engine turns your voice into words. Every one runs entirely on your Mac. The welcome window offers the first three and downloads your pick right there. You can switch any time in Settings → Models.

Engine Download Languages Best for
Apple Speech Built in Your macOS languages The easiest start on macOS 26 or later. Nothing to download.
Parakeet V3 496 MB 25 European languages The fastest engine. Our pick for English and European languages.
Nemotron 3.5 670 MB 8, including Chinese and Japanese True live streaming, and the one to pick for Chinese or Japanese.
Whisper Large v3 Turbo 1.6 GB 99 languages Any language the others do not cover. In Settings → Models.

On macOS 14 or 15, Apple Speech is not available. Pick Parakeet V3, or Nemotron 3.5 if you speak Chinese or Japanese. To speak more than one language, set Spoken language to Auto (detect) in Settings → Models.

Step 5

Choose a formatting model

The formatting model removes fillers, fixes punctuation and matches the tone of the app you are in. Find it in Settings → Formatting.

Apple Intelligence

Built in

The default on macOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on in System Settings.

Qwen3.5 2B

≈1.2 GB

For Macs without Apple Intelligence. Download it once and it runs offline.

Qwen3.5 9B

≈6 GB

Best quality, offered on Macs with 32 GB of memory or more.

In the same place, choose how much Flit changes: Verbatim (your exact words), Clean (fillers out, times and numbers fixed) or Polished (reads like you wrote it, the default). Dictation always works, even with no formatting model: you get the plain transcript.

Step 6

Dictate for the first time

  1. Click into any text field: an email, a Slack message, a document.
  2. Hold fn 🌐 and speak.
  3. Let go. Your words land at the cursor, cleaned up.
Messages

Are we still on for Friday?

Press and hold the key, then let go.

Long dictation

Double-tap Fn to keep recording hands-free. Press it once more to finish.

Cancel

Press Esc while recording and nothing is typed.

Is it listening?

A small panel shows your words live while you speak. You can move it to the notch in Settings → General.

Step 7

Activate your license

Your 7-day trial starts when you open Flit, with every feature on and no card. When you buy, your key arrives by email.

  1. Copy the key from the email. It looks like FLIT-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX.
  2. Open Flit Settings → License, or right-click the bird in the menu bar and choose the trial item.
  3. Paste it under “Already have a key?” and press Activate.

Lost your key? Find every license for your email. Not bought yet? See pricing.

Troubleshooting

Common setup problems

Holding Fn opens the emoji picker. How do I stop it? +

Open System Settings → Keyboard and set “Press 🌐 key to” to “Do Nothing”. macOS uses the Fn key for the emoji picker by default, so holding it for Flit also opens the picker until you change this.

I hold Fn and nothing happens. +

Flit needs Accessibility access to see the Fn key. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and switch Flit on. If it is already on, select Flit, remove it with the minus button, and add it again from Applications.

The text does not appear where my cursor is. +

Without Accessibility access, Flit puts the transcript on your clipboard instead of typing it. Press ⌘V to paste it, then grant Accessibility access so it types at your cursor next time.

Flit says it did not catch any speech. +

Check the microphone in Flit Settings → General → Input device, or in the Microphone submenu of the menu bar icon. If you use headphones or a virtual audio device, pick your real microphone there.

Where did Flit go after I opened it? +

Flit lives in the menu bar, as a small bird icon at the top right of your screen. It has no Dock icon. Click the bird to open it, or right-click it for Settings.

Can I use a different key instead of Fn? +

Yes. Open Flit Settings → Keyboard, set Activation key to Custom shortcut, and record a combination with Command, Control or Option. The default custom shortcut is ⌥ Space.

Something else is wrong. +

Right-click the bird in the menu bar, choose Copy Diagnostic Report, and paste it into an email to [email protected]. A person reads every one.