Update README for 1.4.1

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -12,21 +12,46 @@ A simple menu bar app for voice dictation using OpenAI Whisper (local, offline).
 
 ## macOS
 
+### What's new in 1.4.1
+
+- 🎨 **Native icons instead of emoji** — the menu bar icon, recording overlay, download window, menus and Settings now use macOS SF Symbols: sharp at any size, matching light/dark menu bars, and the menu bar microphone turns red while recording
+
+### What's new in 1.4.0
+
+- 💬 **Live preview while recording** — the recording overlay shows what you're saying as you speak, using macOS's on-device dictation model (works in Hungarian too). It's a preview: the pasted text still comes from Whisper, so it can differ slightly. Toggle it in Settings.
+
+### What's new in 1.3.1
+
+- 🪶 **Quantized models** — *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)
+- 📥 **Download progress window** — progress bar, size, speed, time remaining, Cancel/Retry; progress also shows in the menu bar and Settings
+- 🔥 **Model warm-up at recording start** — 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** — 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
+- 📊 **Live mic-level HUD** while recording, which warns ("No audio input?") if the microphone stays silent
+- 📖 **Custom dictionary** — an editable *Heard → Replacement* table that fixes names/jargon in the transcript and also biases recognition
+
 ### Features
 
 - 🎤 Global hotkey (⌃⌥D) to start/stop recording
+- ⚡ Fast transcription via a warm whisper-server (model stays loaded — no per-dictation reload), with automatic fallback to `whisper-cli`
+- 📊 Live mic-level meter while recording, with a "no audio input" warning
+- 💬 Live transcript preview in the recording overlay (on-device Apple dictation model; Whisper still produces the pasted text)
+- 📖 Custom dictionary (heard → replacement) that also biases recognition
 - 🔒 Fully offline - uses local Whisper model
-- ⚡ Automatic paste into any focused app
+- ⌨️ Automatic paste into any focused app
 - 📋 Clipboard preservation - your copied content is restored after paste
 - ⚙️ Settings window with model selection dropdown
-- 📥 Built-in model downloader with progress indicator
+- 📥 Built-in model downloader with a progress window (speed, time remaining, cancel/retry)
+- 🪶 Quantized model options for much lower memory use
 - 🚀 Launch at login support
 - 🔊 Sound feedback (optional)
-- 📦 Self-contained - whisper-cli bundled in app
+- 📦 Self-contained - whisper-cli and whisper-server bundled in the app
 
 ### Requirements
 
-- macOS 13.0+
+- macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later
 - Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) or Intel Mac
 
 ### Quick Install (Download)
@@ -64,9 +89,9 @@ make install
 ### Usage
 
 1. Launch WhisperDictate from Applications
-2. Look for the 🎤 icon in your menu bar
+2. Look for the microphone icon in your menu bar
 3. Press **⌃⌥D** (Control + Option + D) to start recording
-4. Speak (icon changes to 🔴)
+4. Speak (the menu bar microphone turns red)
 5. Press **⌃⌥D** again to stop and transcribe
 6. Text is automatically pasted where your cursor is
 
@@ -74,8 +99,10 @@ make install
 
 Click the menu bar icon → 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 (✓ marks models already downloaded)
+- **Dictionary**: Add *Heard → Replacement* pairs to fix names/jargon (use `\n` for a newline); the replacement terms also improve recognition
 - **Sound feedback**: Toggle audio feedback on/off
+- **Live preview while recording**: Show a rough live transcript in the recording overlay (on by default)
 - **Launch at login**: Start automatically when you log in
 
 ### Whisper Models
@@ -91,8 +118,22 @@ 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) — measured ~0.7 GB RAM vs ~1.75 GB, same speed |
+| Large v3 Turbo q8_0 | 833 MB | Large v3 Turbo (1.6 GB) — 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
 
 - 🔔 **Tink** - Recording started
@@ -114,6 +155,8 @@ Grant these in System Settings → Privacy & Security:
 ## Security
 
 - All processing is done locally - no data leaves your device
+- The live preview uses macOS's on-device dictation model (SpeechAnalyzer); it needs no extra permission beyond the microphone
+- The bundled `whisper-server` is bound to `127.0.0.1` (loopback only) and is never exposed on the network
 - Audio files are stored in private temp directory and deleted after transcription
 - Clipboard is cleared after paste (transcript doesn't remain accessible)
 - Original clipboard content is preserved and restored after paste

macos/Makefile

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 APP_NAME = WhisperDictate
 APP_BUNDLE = $(APP_NAME).app
-VERSION = 1.2.1
+VERSION = 1.4.1
 
 # Directories
 SRC_DIR = src
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ BUNDLE_DIR = $(APP_BUNDLE)/Contents
 
 # Compiler settings
 SWIFT = swiftc
-SWIFT_FLAGS = -O -framework Cocoa -framework AVFoundation -framework Carbon -framework CoreGraphics -framework ServiceManagement
+SWIFT_FLAGS = -O -framework Cocoa -framework AVFoundation -framework Speech -framework Carbon -framework CoreGraphics -framework ServiceManagement
 
 .PHONY: all clean build bundle install run dmg
 

macos/WhisperDictate.app/Contents/Info.plist

@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@
 	<key>CFBundlePackageType</key>
 	<string>APPL</string>
 	<key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
-	<string>1.2.1</string>
+	<string>1.4.1</string>
 	<key>CFBundleVersion</key>
-	<string>2</string>
+	<string>6</string>
 	<key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key>
 	<string>13.0</string>
 	<key>LSUIElement</key>