Does dictation work without Wi-Fi?
Yes — if the app does the work on your computer instead of on a server.
- Set it up once
- Then no connection
- Mac and Windows
Free to try. No card. Offline included.
Apple Silicon · macOS 14 or later · Windows 11
Most dictation apps are a microphone pointed at somebody else’s server. Your voice goes up, text comes back, and none of it is happening on your machine. That arrangement is invisible right up until the connection goes, which is usually the moment you sit down on a plane with three hours and something to write.
How can you tell before you need it?
The test
Turn the Wi-Fi off
Then dictate a sentence. That is the entire test, and it takes ten seconds.
If it works
It runs on your machine
Nothing was being uploaded. The connection was never part of it.
If it does not
It was a web service
No setting will fix that. The transcription was never on your computer.
What JotMic needs before the connection goes
Two things, both once, both while you still have a connection. This page would be dishonest without them.
- Sign in — the account is for licensing, not for your speech
- Switch offline mode on, so it can fetch the offline model — about 490 MB
After that the connection stops mattering. Dictating offline makes no network request at all: no upload, and nothing queued to upload later.
What still works with the network off
- Punctuation and capitals, put in for you
- Filler and false starts, taken out
- The words you taught it — names, jargon, spellings
- Voice commands, on both Mac and Windows
Try it, then turn the Wi-Fi off and try it again. Free to try, no card.
What it costs on your machine
The work a server used to do now happens on your computer, so offline wants a machine with room to spare. Online stays the default for that reason, and switching between them is one setting either way.
The free allowance is 5,000 words and it covers both. Offline is not a way around the allowance — it is a way around the network.
Read next
Offline dictation
The longer version: what runs where, who needs it, and when to switch back.
Air-gapped machines
For a computer that stays off the network on purpose rather than by accident.
Dictation on Mac
The Mac build, and the voice commands that come with it.
Questions
Does dictation work without Wi-Fi?
It depends entirely on where the app does the transcription. If it runs on a server, no connection means no dictation. If it runs on your own computer, the connection is irrelevant. JotMic can do either, and you pick.
Why does my dictation app stop working on a plane?
Because it was a web service the whole time. Your voice was being uploaded, turned into text somewhere else and sent back. With no connection there is nothing to upload to.
What does JotMic need before I lose the connection?
Two things, once. Sign in, and switch on offline mode so it can fetch the offline model — about 490 MB. Do both while you still have a connection and it keeps working after you do not.
Does it work on aeroplane mode?
Yes, once it is set up. Aeroplane mode, a train through a tunnel, a basement office and hotel Wi-Fi that asks you to log in every hour all behave the same way.
Is offline dictation free?
It is on the free tier, so you can try it without a card. The free allowance is 5,000 words and it covers both offline and online dictation — offline is not a way around it.
Is it less accurate without a connection?
On clear speech the difference is small. Online pulls ahead when the audio is hard — a strong accent, a noisy room, a cheap microphone.
Does it need a fast computer?
It wants a machine with room to spare, because the work that a server used to do now happens on yours. Online stays the default for that reason.
Does it work on both Mac and Windows?
Yes, and the same way on both.
Free to try, no card. Offline is on the free tier.