Dictation for RSI and hands-free typing

Parlo cuts typing by turning speech into text on iPhone and Mac. On iPhone, tap the mic key and speak, then swipe back to insert. On Mac, hold Option to dictate, or double-tap Option to lock hands-free so you never hold a key down. Build 54 added larger tap targets, clearer VoiceOver labels, and support for large Dynamic Type sizes.

By Eric Friedman. Last updated 2026-09-06.

Typing all day strains hands and wrists for many people. Voice input does not remove typing completely, but it can reduce how much of it you do. Parlo turns speech into text on iPhone and Mac, so you can write messages, notes, and drafts while touching far fewer keys. This guide covers the hands-free options on each platform, what still needs a keyboard, and the accessibility work behind the flow.

Who is this guide for?

Anyone cutting back on typing works with this guide. That includes people managing RSI, carpal tunnel, or general hand strain, and anyone who prefers to talk rather than type. None of this replaces medical advice. It describes what Parlo does, not how much typing is safe for your hands.

What do you need to set up before dictating hands-free?

On iPhone, enable the Parlo keyboard once, in Settings under Keyboards, and allow Full Access so the app can hand text back to it. After that, the mic key is available in any app with a text field.

On Mac, Parlo needs microphone and Accessibility permission, both requested during first-run onboarding, which also walks through the shortcut and launch at login. Once those are granted, holding Option starts dictation from anywhere, without opening the app window first.

How does Parlo cut typing on iPhone?

Switch to the Parlo keyboard in any app with a text field, then tap the mic key once. The Parlo app opens and records while you speak. When you are done, swipe back to the app you were using, and the keyboard inserts the cleaned text. You tap the mic key and swipe back. There is no key to hold down while you talk, and no second app to open by hand.

The swipe back is the one manual step iOS requires before a keyboard can insert text. It is a single motion, not a return trip through menus, and it takes about as long as swiping between two open apps.

How do you dictate hands-free on Mac?

Parlo for Mac lives in the menu bar and starts from a key you hold, not a button you click and re-click.

1. Hold Option and speak. Release Option when you are done, and the text lands at your cursor in whatever app you were using.
2. For longer stretches, double-tap Option instead of holding it. This locks hands-free dictation on, so you can keep talking without holding any key down.
3. Double-tap Option again to stop and insert the text.

You can also record a custom shortcut in Settings if Option conflicts with another app you use. The shortcut, once set, replaces Option everywhere in the flow above.

How does cleanup cut down on corrections?

A rambling, hands-free dictation usually needs fixing up before it reads well. Parlo handles most of that without a keyboard. Cleanup runs on your device with an on-device language model and removes filler sounds, false starts, and repeated words. You rarely need to go back and delete anything by hand. Spoken commands add structure while you talk. Say "new line" or "new paragraph" to break up text, or "parentheses" and "end parentheses" to wrap an aside, all without touching a key. Those three work even with AI cleanup off. Saying "quote" and "end quote" also works, but only with AI cleanup on, since the model handles that pair rather than a deterministic pass. A length guard checks the cleaned text against what you said. It falls back to the plainer, deterministic version if the result looks implausibly long, so cleanup does not invent sentences you never spoke.

Can transforms reduce editing by hand even further?

Yes. Opening a note lets you turn a rough dictation into an email, a bulleted list, or a shorter draft with an on-device transform. You do not retype it by hand. A saved edit keeps the original dictated words for one-level revert. Trying a transform does not risk losing what you originally said.

How does the custom dictionary reduce typed corrections on the keyboard?

Names, product terms, and jargon are the words the keyboard's autocorrect gets wrong most often, and each miss usually means a typed correction. Add a word once in the iPhone app under Settings. Autocorrect then stops trying to change it when you type it, on the keyboard, in any app. That is a typing fix, not a dictation fix. It does not change what the speech engine hears when you say the same word out loud.

What changed for accessibility in build 54?

These changes apply across iOS and the keyboard extension. The same accessibility support follows you between the app and the keyboard, not just the surface you tested first.

What still needs typing?

Editing a note by hand still uses the keyboard, and adding a word to your custom dictionary is typed once in Settings. Everything else in the dictation path, recording, transcription, and cleanup, runs from your voice. On iPhone, you still swipe back to the app manually. iOS requires that step before a keyboard can insert text, so it cannot be removed. It also means the keyboard never inserts text in the background without you seeing it happen.

Where does my audio go while I dictate hands-free?

Audio is captured, transcribed on your device, and discarded. Parlo never stores a recording of what you said. Transcription runs with Apple's on-device speech engine, and cleanup runs with an on-device language model. A rambling hands-free dictation still comes out readable without a round trip to a server. If a recording comes back empty, Parlo shows "No speech detected" instead of saving a blank note.

Is hands-free dictation reliable in a beta?

It is a beta. Dictation, cleanup, the Mac hold-Option flow, and the hands-free lock work every day for our testers. Rough edges are listed on the beta page. Your notes stay encrypted on the device either way. If history sync is on, they also move through your private iCloud, end-to-end encrypted, so a bad build does not expose them. If something does not work the way this guide describes, reply to beta@parlokey.com with what happened and which device you were using.