Who this is for
You run a small team or a company and spend your day moving between Slack, email, and meetings. You would rather speak a quick update than stop and type it. You want to find what you said later without scrolling back through a feed.
How it works
- Dictate from the iPhone keyboard in Slack or Mail, or hold Option on your Mac from any app.
- Parlo transcribes and cleans the text on-device, removing filler words and applying the formatting commands you speak.
- Send it as is, or open the note in the feed and run a transform like Email or Bullets to reshape it first.
Both apps install free from the beta page.
What makes it different
- Cleanup built for quick messages. Parlo strips filler sounds and false starts so a rushed Slack update or email reads clean the first time.
- A searchable history. Every dictation lands in a feed you can search later. A decision or a number you said out loud is not lost in a chat thread.
- Works from either device. Dictate on your iPhone between meetings or from your Mac at your desk. Your history syncs between the two through your private iCloud. The custom dictionary is iPhone only.
- Email drafts assembled for you. The Email transform builds a greeting, body, and closing from what you say, and can sign off with a name you set once in Settings.
Common objections, answered
Is it accurate enough compared with cloud dictation?
Parlo transcribes with Apple's on-device speech engine, the same engine behind the newest system dictation, then cleans the text with an on-device language model. It removes filler sounds and false starts and applies spoken commands like new paragraph. A custom dictionary keeps the keyboard's autocorrect from changing the names of your team and product when you type them. It is English-first and a beta, so tell us about rough edges.
Why not just use Apple's built-in dictation?
Apple dictation types what you say. Parlo also cleans it up, assembles email drafts with a greeting and sign-off, and keeps a searchable history of Slack updates and meeting notes. History syncs through your private iCloud, end-to-end encrypted, and you can turn that off.
The keyboard asks for Full Access. What does that grant?
Full Access lets a keyboard extension share data with its companion app. Parlo uses it to pass your dictated text from the app back to the keyboard through a shared container. The keyboard itself cannot record audio, since iOS does not allow it. The keyboard never links the sync stack and never talks to iCloud.
Where does my audio go?
Nowhere. Audio is captured, transcribed on your device, and discarded, including anything you dictate about a customer or a deal. The first run may download Apple's on-device speech model, and beta builds fetch prompt text once a day, carrying no user data. Your transcripts stay on the device, encrypted at rest. If history sync is on, they sync through your private iCloud, end-to-end encrypted, so Apple and Parlo cannot read them.
Is a beta safe to rely on?
It is a beta. Dictation, cleanup, and the feed work every day for our testers. Rough spots are listed on the beta page. Your notes are encrypted on the device and, if sync is on, in your private iCloud. A bad build does not expose a customer conversation. Parlo for Mac tells you when a new build is out. Download it again from the beta page; automatic updates need beta enrollment through /mac. Send feedback by replying to beta@parlokey.com.
What does it cost?
Nothing during the beta. There is no account to create and no subscription, and no seat to buy for a team. Install on iPhone from the public TestFlight link and on Mac from the download on the beta page. Sync uses your own iCloud.
Frequently asked questions
What can I dictate as a founder or operator?
You can dictate Slack updates, emails, meeting notes, and quick follow-ups, then edit or transform them into a cleaner draft before you send them.
Does Parlo write my emails for me?
Parlo assembles the greeting, body, and closing from what you say when you use the Email transform. You can set a name to sign emails as in Settings.
Can my team use Parlo?
Yes. Anyone on your team can install Parlo for free during the beta, each on their own iCloud account. There is no shared team plan or seat license.
Is Parlo free during the beta?
Yes. Both the iPhone app and the Mac app are free while Parlo is in public beta, with no Parlo account required to install either one.
Where does my data go?
Audio is captured, transcribed on your device, and discarded. If history sync is on, your notes sync through your private iCloud, end-to-end encrypted.