diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index cbcfb49..bd92808 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ A simple menu bar app for voice dictation using OpenAI Whisper (local, offline). ## macOS +### What's new in 1.3.1 + +- πŸͺΆ **Quantized models** β€” *Large v3 Turbo q5_0* keeps the transcription server at ~0.7 GB RAM instead of ~1.75 GB, at the same speed (also Small q5_1, Medium q5_0, Turbo q8_0 and Large v3 q5_0) +- πŸ“₯ **Download progress window** β€” progress bar, size, speed, time remaining, Cancel/Retry; progress also shows in the menu bar and Settings +- πŸ”₯ **Model warm-up at recording start** β€” if the model was paged out after a pause, it starts loading as soon as you start talking, not after you stop; the HUD tells you when a transcription is slower because the model is still loading + ### What's new in 1.3.0 - ⚑ **Warm transcription server** β€” the Whisper model stays loaded in a background `whisper-server`, so each dictation is a fast local call (~0.5s) instead of reloading the 1.5–1.6 GB model on every utterance @@ -28,7 +34,8 @@ A simple menu bar app for voice dictation using OpenAI Whisper (local, offline). - ⌨️ Automatic paste into any focused app - πŸ“‹ Clipboard preservation - your copied content is restored after paste - βš™οΈ Settings window with model selection dropdown -- πŸ“₯ Built-in model downloader with progress indicator +- πŸ“₯ Built-in model downloader with a progress window (speed, time remaining, cancel/retry) +- πŸͺΆ Quantized model options for much lower memory use - πŸš€ Launch at login support - πŸ”Š Sound feedback (optional) - πŸ“¦ Self-contained - whisper-cli and whisper-server bundled in the app @@ -83,7 +90,7 @@ make install Click the menu bar icon β†’ Settings to configure: - **Language**: Auto-detect or 31 supported languages -- **Model**: Select from installed models or download new ones +- **Model**: Select from installed models or download new ones (βœ“ marks models already downloaded) - **Dictionary**: Add *Heard β†’ Replacement* pairs to fix names/jargon (use `\n` for a newline); the replacement terms also improve recognition - **Sound feedback**: Toggle audio feedback on/off - **Launch at login**: Start automatically when you log in @@ -101,9 +108,21 @@ Download models directly from the app or manually: | Large v3 Turbo | 1.6 GB | ~4 sec | Best | **Recommended** - fast like Medium, accurate like Large | | Large v3 | 3.1 GB | ~8 sec | Maximum | Difficult audio, max accuracy | +**Quantized variants** (q5/q8) have much smaller weights, so the model uses far less memory, with a small accuracy trade-off: + +| Model | Size | Full-size equivalent | +|-------|------|----------------------| +| Small q5_1 | 181 MB | Small (466 MB) | +| Medium q5_0 | 514 MB | Medium (1.5 GB) | +| Large v3 Turbo q5_0 | 547 MB | Large v3 Turbo (1.6 GB) β€” measured ~0.7 GB RAM vs ~1.75 GB, same speed | +| Large v3 Turbo q8_0 | 833 MB | Large v3 Turbo (1.6 GB) β€” near-identical accuracy | +| Large v3 q5_0 | 1.0 GB | Large v3 (3.1 GB) | + Models are stored in `~/.whisper-models/` > With the warm server (1.3.0+), the selected model loads once at startup (a few seconds); after that each dictation skips the reload, so the speeds above are roughly the per-dictation transcription time. +> +> The server keeps the whole model in memory while it runs. If macOS pages it out after a long pause, 1.3.1+ starts loading it back as soon as you start recording, and the HUD shows *"Loading model into memory…"* if that takes a moment. ### Audio Feedback