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How it works

Light on your Mac. Heavy in the cloud.

Local dictation models eat memory, heat up your laptop and stall when you need them most. Shadow Whisper processes in the cloud and hands back the text instantly, with no weight.

NotesQuick message
Tue · 14:52
Message to Dana
so im gona send the doc to u tomorow cus today is to bussy ok

Process away, deliver here

Your Mac stays free

The heavy lifting runs in the cloud; what reaches your computer is just the finished text.

The cost of local

A model on your Mac charges you

Running heavy AI on your own machine looks free, but it isn’t.

  • Quality transcription models take gigabytes of RAM and fight your apps for memory.
  • The machine heats up, the fan spins, and the battery vanishes by mid-afternoon.
  • Older laptops stall or lag while transcribing, right when you’re in a hurry.
  • To improve the model, you have to download it all again and redo the setup.

The cloud advantage

The weight stays on our side

You just get the result, fast and always up to date.

  • Processing runs on powerful servers, so your Mac stays light and quiet.
  • It works just as well on an old MacBook or a new one, it doesn’t hinge on your hardware.
  • We improve the models on our side; you gain quality without reinstalling anything.
  • Text comes back in seconds, with cleanup and formatting already applied.

Comparison

Local vs cloud, in practice

What changes in your day between the two paths.

CriterionLocal modellocalShadow Whisper (cloud)sw
Mac memory usageHighMinimal
Heats up the machineYesNo
Depends on hardwareYesNo
Model updatesManualAutomatic
Stores your audioMaybeNo

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Do you store my audio in the cloud?

No. The audio is transcribed and discarded immediately. What we process is not stored; only the final text stays with you, on your device.

Does it work offline?

Voice dictation needs a connection, because the processing runs in the cloud. In return, your Mac stays light and you never download heavy models.

Is it slower than local?

In practice, no. Powerful servers transcribe fast and the text comes back in seconds, without stalling when your machine is full of open apps.

Can my old MacBook handle it?

Yes. Since the heavy lifting runs in the cloud, Shadow Whisper works just as well on old and new Macs.

Fast dictation without weighing down your Mac.

Join the waitlist and get notified when Shadow Whisper opens up.

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