#Dragon dictate for mac review how to
#Dragon dictate for mac review manual

But I was able to get decent results using a Dragon wireless-mic app on my iPhone and even using the built-in mic on the Mac laptop, either directly or via the tiny mic included in Apple’s standard earbuds. The included gear offers the greatest accuracy. Also, the Windows version allows you to navigate from link to link on a Web page, while the Mac version doesn’t.ĭragon comes with an over-the-head microphone and earpiece that connects instantly via USB, but it also works with many types of microphones. One of the deficits still lingering in the Mac version is it has fewer sets of application-specific commands than its Windows counterpart. You can say “File New” to open a new document or “Jump to Wall Street Journal” to open the Web browser and go to the Journal’s Web site. The latter means controlling menus and commands either common to the whole operating system or specific to a program you’re using.

#Dragon dictate for mac review manual

The Dragon software has many, many functions (the user manual is 207 pages), but you can boil it down to two: dictation and computer control. You also can’t use Apple’s dictation feature unless you’re connected to the Internet, while Dragon works right on the computer. But they don’t match Dragon’s voice command set. Macs do have a feature that make a limited number of spoken computer commands available. First, Apple’s dictation doesn’t allow you to command the computer, or edit by voice. So why choose a $200 program? Especially since Apple recently added free built-in dictation to the Mac. The software would be a good choice for people who are disabled and can’t type, or even those prone to mild repetitive stress injuries. For example, you need to say “File Open” as it won’t respond to “Open File.” So you’d need a good reason to make that investment in money and time. It could take weeks or months to remember and master the specific wording of each of the many commands.

#Dragon dictate for mac review how to

By that I mean it’s relatively costly, at $200, and requires time to learn how to use. Based on my tests, I can say that Dragon Dictate 3, and by extension Dragon NaturallySpeaking, are quite accurate. I chose to test the Mac version because it can finally do some things formerly limited to Windows, such as selecting a single word by voice for correction or deletion or formatting. Dragon Dictate uses a small window to show its status and often displays two larger windows, one with available commands and one with alternate spellingsĭespite some feature differences, the two versions use the same improved voice-recognition engine, so the company said my experience on the Mac would be a good indicator of its Windows product’s performance.