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Install the Mac app

One disk image · Developer ID–signed and Apple-notarized · 3 days free, up to 7 with use

Start with 3 days free. Every 500 words you successfully dictate adds 1 day, up to 7 days total.

Listen Orb is an AI voice dictation utility for Mac, not a website login. Download Listen Orb.dmg and drag the app onto Applications. The Developer ID–signed, Apple-notarized build opens through the standard macOS flow.

During activation, choose Start free trial or enter a Polar license key. Polar sends an order confirmation with access to the license key. Choose Local for on-device transcription and AI polish, or use cloud processing with your own OpenAI or xAI API key.

Step by step

1. Download and open the image

   Open the downloaded Listen Orb.dmg. Drag Listen Orb onto Applications. Then open the Applications copy while the image is still mounted. After verifying that it matches the installer, Listen Orbconfirms Installation complete before activation. Choose Keep, or explicitly eject the image and move the DMG to Trash.

2. Open Listen Orb

   Double-click the app in Applications and continue through first launch. If you open the matching copy on the installer image by mistake, Listen Orb offers to open the verified Applications copy and closes the installer copy. It does not switch copies when the image is missing, changed, or cannot be matched uniquely.

3. Start the trial, or enter a Polar key

   Open Polar checkout — $99 one time if you want to buy now. Otherwise, choose Start free trial, or enter the emailed key from the purchase confirmation or Manage License in the app. How the license works.

   The trial starts immediately when you choose Start free trial and activation is saved, before API key and permission setup. If activation cannot be saved, follow the recovery action shown in the app.

4. Choose Local or a cloud provider

   Choose Local on Apple silicon with macOS 14 or later, then download the speech and text models. No provider key is needed. Follow the local setup guide.

   For cloud processing, choose OpenAI or xAI, then paste that provider's key. The app validates it against that provider's transcription route and stores it in Keychain as listen-orb-openai for OpenAI or listen-orb-xai for xAI. macOS may then ask for your Mac login password. That unlocks Keychain so this Mac can keep the key. Listen Orb never sees that password. Keychain holds a few Listen Orb items, including those provider keys, the local trial start marker, and a Polar license if you buy one. A ChatGPT plan is not an OpenAI API key. SuperGrok, grok.com, Cursor, or an X login is not an xAI API key. How to create a key.

5. Grant the three permissions

   Microphone for capture, Accessibility for insert, Input Monitoring for Fn. The checklist shows only states macOS can verify, opens System Settings, and lets you check again after returning. Some changes require a quit and reopen. If Fn is blocked, use Listen in the menu bar. After setup, use Settings → Permissions… to review all three statuses, open the relevant pane, and check again. The Settings submenu also contains AI Provider…, sound, Polish mode, Clean language, and Open at Login controls.

6. Try an optional practice dictation

   Click the practice field, hold Fn while you speak, and release it. Your inserted words remain in the field until you choose Finish setup. You can finish setup without practicing; your trial is already running. If you stop halfway through, choose Finish Setup… from the menu bar when you return.

Remove it later

Choose Uninstall Listen Orb… from the menu bar extra. That deletes the Applications copy, the login item, and local settings. Keychain items stay until you delete them yourself.

If you are removing it permanently, you can also delete its rows under Microphone, Accessibility, and Input Monitoring. Normal signed updates use the same app identity and do not require that cleanup.