Handy

Overview

Handy is a free, open source, and extensible speech-to-text desktop application that works completely offline. Press a configurable keyboard shortcut, speak, and release; Handy processes the speech locally and pastes the transcribed text into the text field you are using.

Key Features

• Press a configurable keyboard shortcut, speak, and release to paste transcribed text into any text field.
• Processes speech entirely on your computer, so audio does not need to be sent to the cloud.
• Supports push-to-talk, toggle, hold-only, and toggle-only recording modes with configurable keybindings.
• Uses Silero VAD for silence filtering and offers Whisper models with GPU acceleration when available.
• Includes Parakeet V3, a CPU-optimized model with automatic language detection.
• Runs as a cross-platform desktop application on Windows, macOS, and Linux; the project is free, open source, and extensible.

Use Cases

• Dictating text directly into any application or text field using a keyboard shortcut.
• Transcribing speech locally when privacy requires keeping audio on the computer.
• Writing longer text or replying to messages without switching to a separate transcription service.

Getting Started

• Download the latest release from the Handy releases page or the website.
• On macOS, Handy is also available via Homebrew cask using brew install --cask handy; on Windows, via winget using winget install cjpais.Handy.
• On Debian or Ubuntu, install the downloaded .deb with APT, for example sudo apt install ./Handy_*.deb.
• Install the application, launch Handy, and grant necessary system permissions such as microphone and accessibility.
• Configure preferred keyboard shortcuts in Settings, then start transcribing.

Deployment & Requirements

• Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux as a desktop application.
• Requires microphone and accessibility permissions after launch.
• On Linux with X11, install xdotool for reliable text input; on Wayland, install wtype or dotool.
• Linux installations depend on the gtk-layer-shell runtime library; package names vary by distribution.

Before You Adopt

• License: MIT. Review its terms before using, modifying, or distributing the project.
• On Linux, reliable text input depends on display-server-specific tools; without them Handy falls back to enigo, which may have limited compatibility.
• The Homebrew cask and winget packages are external packages not maintained by the Handy developers.
• Using a Bluetooth headset microphone on macOS can temporarily reduce playback quality or volume while recording.
• Shortcuts that include the fn or Globe key work only on Apple keyboards and never trigger on third-party keyboards.
• Wayland support on Linux is limited.