Docs
Install the Mac app
Listen Orb is a Mac utility, not a website login. Download Listen Orb.dmg, drag the app onto Applications, and right-click → Open the first time. This build is signed, not notarized, so a normal double-click may be blocked by Gatekeeper.
First launch starts a 14-day trial. Buy when you want; Polar emails the license key. Speech still uses your own OpenAI API key.
Step by step
Download and open the image
Get Listen Orb.dmg. Double-click it. Drag Listen Orb onto Applications. Eject the image when Finder is done.
Right-click → Open the first time
In Applications, right-click Listen Orb and choose Open. Confirm the Gatekeeper dialog. After that, a normal open works. If macOS still refuses, open System Settings → Privacy & Security and choose Open Anyway for Listen Orb.
Paste a Polar key, or start the trial
Polar emails a license after checkout ($99 once). Paste it when the app asks, or continue without one to start the 14-day trial. How the license works.
Paste your OpenAI API key
The first-run window stores it in Keychain as
listen-orb-openai. A ChatGPT plan is not API billing. How to create a key.Grant the three permissions
Microphone for capture, Accessibility for insert, Input Monitoring for Fn. Enable the app you launched. Quit and reopen after each change. After the key is saved, the app also opens at login. You can turn that off from the menu bar.
Remove it later
Choose Uninstall Listen Orb… from the menu bar extra. That deletes the Applications copy, the login item, and local settings. The OpenAI key and license key stay in Keychain until you delete those items yourself.
Then remove every Listen Orb row under Microphone, Accessibility, and Input Monitoring. Replacing a build without doing that leaves stale rows that look enabled but do not cover the next install.