Every app you dictate into has different expectations. Slack wants casual, quick messages. A code comment needs precision without filler. A client email calls for a polished, professional tone. Switching modes manually between apps breaks your flow. Dictato’s Profiles feature handles that switching for you, automatically, the moment you press record.
What profiles do
A profile ties a specific macOS app (or a browser tab by domain) to a dictation action and a transcription engine. When you press your hotkey, Dictato reads the frontmost app, finds the matching rule, and applies it without any extra step on your part.
Four actions are available, one per profile:
- Skip drops the raw transcript with no AI pass. Good for code editors where you want exactly what you said.
- Proofread runs on-device grammar, punctuation, and filler-word cleanup. Nothing leaves your Mac.
- Rewrite combines proofread with a style change, handled by on-device AI. You pick a tone from the built-in set (Professional, Email, Concise, Friendly, and more) or write your own.
- Translate outputs in a different language from what you spoke. It requires macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later and runs translation on-device.
You can also let each profile use its own transcription engine, or inherit your global setting.
How to add your first profile
Open Settings > Profiles and flip the master toggle on. The feature is labeled Beta and is available in both the trial and licensed versions.
Click the plus button to add a rule, then pick the target app from the list. For browsers (Chrome, Safari, Arc, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera), you can narrow the rule to a specific domain, such as mail.google.com for Gmail or *.slack.com for Slack. The first time Dictato reads the URL, macOS will ask for Automation permission. Firefox is not supported for URL-based targeting.
Set the action, pick a tone if you chose Rewrite, and optionally select a transcription engine. Save, and the profile is live.
When no rule matches the active app, Dictato falls back to the default action, which starts as Proofread and can be changed.
What you see while dictating
A green dot on the floating recording bar tells you a profile matched the current app. If you want to skip it for one dictation without turning profiles off, a toggle in the floating bar does exactly that. You can also swap the tone for a single dictation from the same bar.
Numbers and dates format automatically
Numbers, dates, currency, ordinals, and phone numbers are formatted for you after every dictation, including after any AI pass. It runs regardless of which profile you use, needs no setup, and currently works in English and French.
A few good starting rules
- VS Code or any terminal: Skip (raw output, no rewriting)
- Gmail or Outlook: Rewrite with Email tone
- Slack or Messages: Proofread, or Rewrite with Friendly tone
- Notion or Obsidian: Proofread (light cleanup, keeps your structure)
Start with three or four rules. Most people find they add one or two more after a week, once they notice which apps keep changing what they actually meant to say.