Questions & troubleshooting

What do I need to run VibeVerter?

An Apple silicon Mac (M1, M2, M3 or M4) running macOS 26.2 or later, with about 2 GB free for the speech model. Intel Macs are not supported. On an older macOS, macOS tells you the app can’t be used with that version; update macOS first (System Settings › General › Software Update).

The first time I transcribe, it downloads something. Is that normal?

Yes. VibeVerter downloads its speech model once, about 1.5 GB, and keeps it on your Mac. After that everything works offline. If the download stops, press Cancel, check your internet connection, and start again.

Does anything leave my Mac?

No. Your audio, video, recordings and transcripts stay on your Mac. The one download is the speech model, once.

How do I update to a newer version?

Download the newest installer from vibeverter.app, open it, and drag VibeVerter to Applications, replacing the old one. The app does not update itself. Your settings and the speech model are kept.

Which version do I have?

Click About in the app.

What is limited in the free edition?

Transcription: it handles files up to 10 minutes long. A longer file is skipped, with a message before anything starts, and the rest of your list still runs.

Converting audio and video has no limit at all: any number of files, any length.

How do I get a licence, and how do I add it?

Message me and I’ll send you a licence key. In VibeVerter click Settings, then under Licence choose Load licence file… and pick the file, or copy the whole licence text and click Paste from clipboard. The Settings window then shows your licence and your name.

It says the licence isn’t valid.

Copy the whole block, from the line that begins -----BEGIN VIBEVERTER LICENCE----- to the line that begins -----END VIBEVERTER LICENCE-----, with nothing added or removed. A changed name or a missing line makes it invalid. Loading the file instead avoids copying mistakes. If it says the licence has expired, it had an end date; message me.

Can I use my licence on more than one Mac?

Please use it on the Macs you own.

It says my Mac is short of memory. What should I do?

Speaker detection needs 8 to 11 GB of free memory on longer files, and VibeVerter warns you before it starts if your Mac doesn’t have that to spare. Close a few apps, web browsers especially, and try again. Or choose 1 under Number of speakers to skip speaker detection, which takes about half the time.

How do I put names on the speakers?

Tick I'll name the speakers after transcription, under Number of speakers in the main window. When a run finishes, one window asks “Who is speaking?” for all your files, and the transcripts are rewritten with the names you give. If there is only one voice, choose 1 under Number of speakers; the transcript says “Speaker 1” and you can still name them.

How many speakers should I choose?

Leave Number of speakers on Auto-detect and VibeVerter works out how many people are talking. If you know, choose the number: VibeVerter then looks for exactly that many voices, which helps when two of them sound alike. Choose 1 for a single voice; that skips speaker detection and takes about half the time.

How do the clickable timestamps work?

With Timestamps + HTML player ticked (it is by default), each transcript comes with an HTML page saved beside it. That page has a built-in player: click any line to hear it. The timestamps in the Word and PDF files open that page at that moment.

How do I stop a run?

While work is running the big button becomes Stop. It ends the current file and leaves the rest of the list waiting. The bin icon on a running file stops just that one and moves on.

A file is marked “Skipped” or was rejected.

Skipped means the task you chose doesn’t apply to that file. PDFs and other files that aren’t audio or video are rejected when you add them.

What can I record?

Choose at the top of the Record window: My voice; Voice + computer audio, for a video call, say; or Computer audio only. Pause and Resume hold a recording without ending it. When you stop, it goes into your list and is saved in the VibeVerter Recordings folder on your Desktop, and Play It Back lets you listen before you transcribe or convert it.

How do I give a recording a name?

Recordings are named with the date and time. To give one a name you’ll know it by, type it in the Name box on the “Recording saved” screen that appears when you stop, and press Rename (or just Done). A transcript or MP3 made from it takes the same name. Rename it there rather than in Finder: a file renamed in Finder while it waits in your list can’t be found when you press Start Processing.

macOS asked for permission. What do I choose?

Choose Allow. You are asked once for the microphone, the first time you record your voice, and once to record your system audio, the first time you record computer audio.

I recorded computer audio, but it came out silent, or it says “Only your voice was recorded”.

Either nothing was playing, or the permission is switched off. If it is off, macOS gives no error and the recording looks exactly like silence.

Open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording, switch VibeVerter on, then close the Record window and open it again. The Open System Settings button in the Record window takes you straight there.

Computer audio is very quiet.

Look at your Mac’s sound output (the sound icon in the menu bar). If it is a Multi-Output Device with a many-channel device inside, such as BlackHole 16ch, computer audio records much quieter. Switch the output to your speakers or headphones. The Record window shows a note when this is the case.

My voice is very quiet.

Your microphone’s input volume is probably low, which is common. Open System Settings › Sound › Input, choose the microphone, and raise Input volume; about 70% is a good start. In the Record window, the “Your voice” meter should reach roughly half to two thirds when you talk normally. VibeVerter also makes a very quiet recording louder automatically, and tells you when it has.

There is a low hum in my recording.

Many Mac microphones pick up mains hum, and VibeVerter cuts the low rumble from your voice. If you still hear it, try recording with the charger unplugged; power adapters can cause it.

I use Bluetooth headphones or earbuds.

Computer audio works through any speakers or headphones, Bluetooth included. A Bluetooth microphone is different: it records at phone-call quality and can clip the start of what you say. In the Record window choose the Mac’s own microphone, or wait a second or two after pressing Start before you talk. The Record window says so when you pick a Bluetooth microphone.

Start is greyed out and says “Getting the microphone ready…”

A Bluetooth microphone needs a moment to start delivering sound. Start becomes available as soon as it does, and after 3 seconds at the latest.

It says “No sound from your microphone yet”.

Check that VibeVerter is switched on under System Settings › Privacy & Security › Microphone (the Open System Settings button opens it), that the right microphone is chosen in the list, and that it isn’t muted. A Bluetooth microphone stays silent until you speak.

It says “I don't hear any talking yet”.

Before you start, VibeVerter listens for talking. A microphone always hears the room, so the meter moves even when no one speaks; if it hears only that, the line under the voice meter says so. Say something: the line goes as soon as it hears you. If it stays, check that the right microphone is chosen in the list and that you are close enough to it.

It asked “Still recording?”

When nothing has been heard for 2 minutes while you record, no one talking and no computer audio, the floating bar asks whether you are still recording, even if you turned the bar off, and VibeVerter’s icon bounces in the Dock. Press Keep recording to carry on, or Stop to save it. The steady sound of a room, a fan or traffic, doesn’t count as something heard, so a recording left running after a call still gets asked.

If nobody answers for 20 minutes, the recording pauses by itself. Everything recorded so far is kept: press Resume to carry on, or Stop to save it.

How do I stop my voice being recorded, without stopping the recording?

Press Mute my voice, next to Pause, while your voice is being recorded. It stops your voice being recorded while everything else carries on, and the clock keeps running so the two stay in step; press Unmute my voice to bring it back. This changes what VibeVerter records, not what a call hears — it does not mute you in a call or meeting, and macOS may still show its microphone dot while you are muted.

Something is covering the Record window while I’m on a call.

Tick Float controls on top while recording, next to the Record title (on by default), and a small bar with the timer, Mute, Pause and Stop stays above your other windows while you record. Drag it by its title to move it; it opens where you left it. Turn the tick box off if something else, a screen recorder say, needs to be on top instead.

Can I mute my voice without switching to VibeVerter?

Yes. While a recording with your voice is running, a key combination you choose — Control-Option-M to start — mutes or unmutes it from any app, with VibeVerter in the background. Press Change… next to it in the Record window to pick your own keys or turn it off; each person who uses VibeVerter chooses their own, and it asks for no extra permission.

Is it legal to record a call?

Recording laws differ by country and state, and you are responsible for following them. Only record people who know about it and have agreed.

What can I convert?

Audio files to MP3, M4A, OGG, WAV or FLAC, and the audio track out of a video file. For MP3, M4A and OGG you can also choose the Quality (128 to 320 kbps). Nothing about converting is limited in the free edition.

How do I uninstall it and free up the space?

Drag VibeVerter from Applications to the Bin. The speech model and your settings live in the folder ~/Library/Application Support/VibeVerter, about 1.5 GB; delete that folder too to remove everything. Your recordings stay in the VibeVerter Recordings folder on your Desktop until you delete them.

Send me the details.

Email hello@vibeverter.app with what you were doing, what you expected, and what happened instead. It helps to add your version (About in the app), your Mac model and macOS version (Apple menu › About This Mac), and a screenshot if you can.