Twirly
Dictate, edit, read aloud — 100% on your Mac.
macOS, iOS, Android · CHF 30 · One-time
One unused key, three superpowers: Twirly turns the § key into your dictate, edit and read-aloud key.
Speak, and Twirly types for you — cleanly worded, no ums or filler words. Select any text and Twirly reworks it for you: proofread, shorten, rephrase, format — by click or spoken instruction. Or double-tap and simply have it read aloud.
Best of all: everything runs 100% locally on your Mac. No account, no cloud, no subscription and nobody analyzing your data — your text never leaves your device.
One thing to check: take a quick look at the system requirements so Twirly runs smoothly on your Mac.
Core features
Dictate anywhere on your Mac
Press the § key, speak, done — in any text field on your Mac. Understands 25 European languages, from English and German to French, Italian and Spanish.
Clean, not literal
Twirly doesn’t just transcribe — it drops the ums or filler words, punctuates, and words things cleanly. Where you pause to think, it starts a new paragraph.
Rework text
Select text, tap the § key: proofread, shorten, more formal, summarize, bullet points, translate — plus your own saved commands. For translation you pick the target language yourself. Or just say what you want: “make this more formal and half as long”.
Format without typing
“Bold the key words” — Twirly finds the words that matter and makes them bold. Real bold in Mail, Pages & Co., and your existing formatting, links included, stays intact.
Read aloud
Select any text and Twirly reads it back in a natural voice — in 30+ languages. Numbers, dates and abbreviations sound right too.
100% private, no subscription
Everything runs on your Mac — no cloud, no account, your text never leaves your device. Buy once, use forever.
Swiss German (beta)
Speak Swiss German and Twirly turns it into clean Standard German. Runs locally like everything else; you download the Swiss speech model once in the settings (about 1.6 GB).
Three dictation modes
Note, message or prompt — you choose how much Twirly polishes. A fact check verifies every number and glossary term against what you actually said.
FAQ
Does Twirly work offline?
Yes — speech recognition, text editing and the read-aloud voice all run locally on your Mac. Internet is only touched twice, briefly: license activation and the optional update check.
Is there a subscription?
No, Twirly is a one-time purchase — pay once, use forever. Updates within the major version included.
On how many Macs can I use Twirly?
Your license key covers two Macs you own. You can free up a seat in the app anytime, e.g. when switching Macs.
Which languages does Twirly speak?
Dictation understands 25 European languages (German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and more), read-aloud works in 30+ languages. Text editing (proofread, shorten, rephrase, format) is optimized for German and English; translate works German ↔ English — and from other languages into English.
Can Twirly read text aloud (text-to-speech)?
Yes. Select any text and double-tap the key — Twirly reads it aloud with a natural voice, in 30+ languages. This too runs fully on-device; your text never leaves your Mac.
What if I need help?
Just email us at support@chochicho.ch — we're happy to help, for example if your key didn't arrive or something isn't working. We can also resend your license key anytime.
Is there a Twirly for iPhone and Android?
For Android yes — the app is on Google Play, the link is up next to the buy button. It is free to install; unlocking it there costs CHF 10 once. The iPhone app is still in beta. They are separate apps, not a remote control for your Mac: dictation, likewise 100% on-device. They are bought where they live — the purchase here is the Mac license.
Can I return Twirly?
Yes, within 14 days — just email us at support@chochicho.ch. Your license key is deactivated in the process.
System requirements
- A Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or newer)
- macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
- About 6 GB of free disk space
- On first launch: grant microphone (dictation) and Accessibility (the § key)
- On-device models: Parakeet v3 (speech recognition) · Qwen3-8B (text processing) · Supertonic 3 (voice) — run fully locally on the Apple Silicon GPU, hence no Intel Macs
- Network is used only for license activation and the update check
- Not for Intel Macs or Windows — a separate Twirly app for Android is on Google Play, the iPhone app is in beta