Languages
99 languages, transcribed on your own Mac
Automatic language detection across 99 languages, running on the machine in front of you. This page states the claim in full, including where it is weakest.
What does “99 languages” actually mean?
The speech model Lesskeys runs recognises 99 languages, and it detects which one is being spoken rather than asking you to declare it first. That figure is the model's, not a marketing round-up: it is the count of languages the model was trained to transcribe, and we state it as 99 rather than “100+” because 99 is the number.
Detection matters more than the count in daily use. You press the key and talk; if you switch from English to German mid-afternoon, nothing needs changing. For recordings, the language is worked out from the audio itself.
Are all 99 equally good?
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Accuracy varies by language, by accent, by microphone and by how much of that language the model saw in training. The widely-spoken European languages do best; smaller languages and heavy background noise do worst.
Rather than assert a number, we measured it: Whisper accuracy across 29 languages publishes the results, including the languages where the model does badly and the rows we later had to correct. Which Whisper model to run on a Mac covers the speed and accuracy trade-off between model sizes.
What is the difference between transcription and translation?
They are different jobs and it is worth being precise, because the words are used interchangeably and they should not be.
- Transcription writes down what was said, in the language it was said in. A Ukrainian conversation becomes Ukrainian text.
- Translation converts it into a different language. That same Ukrainian conversation becomes English text.
Lesskeys transcribes in all 99 languages, and can additionally translate speech into English where the model supports it. The distinction matters practically: if you need a record of an interview for a case file, you want a transcript in the original language, because a translated record is an interpretation of evidence rather than the evidence.
Does multilingual transcription work offline?
Yes. The language model lives on your Mac, so there is no per-language service to call and no request going out for a language pack. Once the model is downloaded, all 99 work with the network off, on a plane or in a building with no signal. Nothing about the audio — in any language — leaves the machine.
Reading this site in your own language
Separately from what the app transcribes, this site is published in 28 languages. The language picker sits in the top bar on every page, and the footer lists them all.
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FAQ
How many languages does Lesskeys support?
99, with automatic detection — the model works out which language is being spoken rather than asking you to set it first. We say 99 rather than 100+ because 99 is the number.
What is the difference between transcription and translation?
Transcription writes down what was said in the language it was said in; translation converts it into a different language. Lesskeys transcribes in all 99 languages and can additionally translate speech into English where the model supports it.
Is accuracy the same in every language?
No. Accuracy varies by language, accent, microphone and how much of that language the model saw in training. We publish measured results across 29 languages rather than claiming a single figure.
Do the languages work offline?
Yes. The model runs on your Mac, so there is no per-language service to call and no language pack to fetch. Once the model is downloaded all 99 work with the network off.
Do I have to pick the language before I speak?
No. Detection is automatic for both live dictation and recorded files. You can still set a preferred language if you want to constrain it.