How Recording Works

Confer supports two dictation modes: Anchored and Quick. Each mode is designed for a different kind of workflow, so you can choose the one that best fits the task at hand.

Anchored Mode

This mode allows you to dictate without needing to hold shortcut keys. To begin dictation, press ⌥+Space, and Confer will begin recording audio at the bottom center of the screen.

Anchored mode is useful if you need to gather additional context for your dictation, plan on having a longer session, or switching between apps, screens, or desktops while dictation remains active. The recording time, visual waveform, and stop button are provided for your convenience.

Change prompts

Anchored mode also allows you to change which prompt mode you are in.

By default the No prompt option will be selected. Clicking on this menu will show your list of prompts. 10 premade prompts are available in Confer, but you may add your own, modify the existing ones, or delete them as you see fit.

While in Anchored mode, you may also use the shortcut ⌥+Up and ⌥+Down to select different prompts without using your cursor.

Change microphones

To change microphones, click the microphone button to the left of the prompts menu. A list of your available microphones will be shown here.

Stop or cancel dictation

To stop recording, press the ⌥+Space again, or press the recording button while dictating. To cancel recording, press Esc, or press and hold the recording button, and drag it left.

Quick Mode

Quick mode provides a quick, press and release style experience for when you need to dictate. To begin dictation in Quick mode, press and hold the Fn key. A minimal audio recording panel will appear at the bottom center of the screen. Release the Fn key will end dictation.

Set Default Prompts

You may set default prompts for Anchored and Quick mode depending on what app you have open. To do this, open the main Confer window by clicking the Confer icon in the menu bar, and clicking Open Confer, then go to the Apps page, and click Add App. From there you can select an app, and set default prompts for Anchored and Quick mode.

Disabling Auto Paste

In the same Apps screen, you may also enable the setting to prevent auto pasting in specific apps. To do this, select an app you would like to configure, then enable the Prevent Auto Pasting toggle in the sidebar.

Paste View

If auto paste is disabled in the app you are in, or Confer determines the app doesn't have a focused field to paste in, the Paste view will be shown. This view anchors itself to the bottom of your screen, and allows you to rerun the transcription with a different prompt, edit the generated transcription, and paste it when ready. You may also dismiss this view with the close button in the top center of it.