SimpleVoice 🎙️

A free and open source voice-to-text transcription alternative

SimpleVoice is a modern voice transcription tool that uses OpenAI Whisper to convert your voice to text quickly and accurately. Unlike commercial solutions, SimpleVoice is completely free, open source, and runs locally on your computer, ensuring your data privacy.

🌟 Features

• 🎤 Modern and user-friendly GUI
• 🚀 Fast and accurate transcription with optimized Whisper models
• 🌍 Multi-language support with automatic detection
• ⌨️ Configurable global F12 hotkey for quick recording
• 📋 Auto-copy to clipboard for efficient workflow
• 🔒 100% private - everything runs locally
• 📝 Detailed logging for debugging and tracking
• 🎯 Multiple Whisper models (Turbo, Base, Small, etc.)
• 🔧 Customizable configuration for language and model settings

🚀 Quick Start

🍎 macOS (Automatic Setup)

One command installs everything:

git clone https://github.com/sarrazola/SimpleVoice.git && cd SimpleVoice && ./install.sh

That's it! Now use SimpleVoice like any Mac app:

• 🖱️ Finder → Applications → SimpleVoice.app
• 🚀 Launchpad → Search "SimpleVoice"

The installer automatically handles dependencies, permissions, and creates a native .app bundle.

📖 Manual Installation

1. Clone the project

git clone https://github.com/sarrazola/SimpleVoice.git
cd SimpleVoice

2. Install ffmpeg (required by Whisper)

# On macOS with Homebrew
brew install ffmpeg

# On Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg

# On Windows (with Chocolatey)
choco install ffmpeg

3. Install Python dependencies

# For GUI interface (recommended)
pip install -r requirements-gui.txt

# Or for terminal only
pip install -r requirements.txt

Note for macOS: If you have issues with pyaudio:

brew install portaudio 
pip install pyaudio

4. Configure permissions (macOS)

On macOS, you need to grant microphone permissions:

1. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Microphone
2. Add Terminal or your preferred terminal application
3. Add Python if it appears in the list

🎯 How to Use

After Installation

1. Launch SimpleVoice (from Applications, Launchpad, or terminal)
2. Configure your preferences in Settings
3. Press F12 or click "Start Recording"
4. Speak clearly into your microphone
5. Press F12 again or click "Stop"
6. Text is transcribed and automatically copied to clipboard

Manual Launch (All Platforms)

cd src && python main_gui.py

The GUI includes:

🏠 Home Screen

• "Start Recording" button: Starts voice recording
• Status indicator: Shows if ready (🟢 Ready)
• Transcription area: Displays the latest transcribed text
• "Copy" button: Copies transcription to clipboard

⚙️ Settings

• Hotkey: Configure global key (default F12)
• Transcription Model:
  • 🚀 Turbo - Optimized (805MB): Fast and accurate (recommended)
  • 📱 Base (290MB): Balance between speed and accuracy
  • 🔬 Small (488MB): More accurate, slightly slower
• Language: Auto-detect or specific languages

❓ Help

• Detailed usage instructions
• Feature information
• GitHub repository links
• Important notes about permissions

📋 Logs

• Detailed system logging
• Useful for debugging and activity tracking

Terminal Interface

python main.py

🛠️ System Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• ffmpeg installed and accessible from PATH
• Working microphone
• macOS/Windows/Linux (global hotkeys optimized for macOS)
• At least 1GB free space for Whisper models

📁 Project Structure

SimpleVoice/
├── SimpleVoice.app/              # 🍎 macOS Application Bundle
│   └── Contents/
│       ├── Info.plist            # App configuration
│       ├── MacOS/SimpleVoice     # Main executable
│       └── Resources/            # App resources and icons
├── src/
│   ├── main_gui.py      # Main GUI interface
│   ├── main.py          # Terminal interface
│   ├── gui.py           # GUI components
│   └── recorder.py      # Recording and transcription logic
├── launch_simplevoice.sh         # 🚀 Smart launcher script
├── install.sh                    # 🔧 Automatic installer (macOS)
├── requirements-gui.txt          # GUI dependencies
├── requirements.txt              # Basic dependencies
├── APP_README.md                 # .app specific documentation
└── README.md                     # This file

🤝 Contributing

SimpleVoice is an open source project and contributions are welcome:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🌐 Links

• GitHub: https://github.com/sarrazola/SimpleVoice/
• Issues: Report bugs or request features
• Releases: Download versions

🙏 Acknowledgments

• OpenAI Whisper for the transcription engine
• The open source community for making this project possible

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SimpleVoice - Made with ❤️ for the open source community