Available for macOS

Your meetings, notes, and ideas — captured by AI

Record lectures, transcribe meetings, dictate thoughts. Whynote turns audio into structured notes, summaries, and action items — all on your Mac.

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Whynote macOS app dashboard with sidebar navigation, note list, and an AI-generated meeting summary
Core Features

Everything you need to capture what matters

A
Alex
M
Maria
K
Kate

Record Everything

Capture microphone audio, system sound, or both simultaneously. Automatic speaker detection identifies who said what.

What was the marketing budget?
The approved budget is $50,000. Mentioned by Alex at 23:45.
Who owns testing?
Alex is responsible. Deadline is Friday.
Ask about this meeting...
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AI-Powered Notes

Get instant summaries, key points, and action items. Ask questions about your recordings and get precise, sourced answers.

⌥ + Space
Listening...
Remind me to send the report

Voice Dictation

Global hotkey to dictate anywhere on your Mac. Quick-tap to toggle, long-press for hold-to-speak. Custom auto-replace rules included.

Meeting Recording

Every word, every speaker, captured live

Start recording with one click. Whynote captures system audio and your microphone, then transcribes and identifies each speaker automatically.

Automatic transcription — your recordings are transcribed on-device after capture
Speaker diarization — automatically labels who said what
System audio capture — record Zoom, Meet, Teams, and any app
Calendar integration — auto-detect meetings from your calendar
AI Intelligence

Ask anything. Get answers from your notes.

Whynote's AI reads your transcripts and notes, then generates summaries, extracts action items, and answers your questions with precise references.

Chat with your notes — ask questions, get sourced answers
Smart summaries — key points, decisions, and next steps
Action items — auto-extracted tasks from your meetings
Enhance your notes — combine your notes with transcripts into polished documents
How It Works

Your notes, supercharged by AI

During the meeting, Whynote records and you take rough notes
Q4 Planning Call
budget approved, 50k
sarah - send mockups tmrw
push launch 1 week for testing
alex owns testing plan
due friday
When it ends, Whynote enhances your notes with the transcript
Q4 Planning Call
Budget & Timeline
Marketing budget approved — $50,000 for initial campaign
Launch pushed one week for additional testing
Maria to send updated mockups by tomorrow
Action Items
Alex: Prepare testing plan by Friday
Sarah: Send mockups to marketing
Review brand guidelines before launch
Dictation

Speak anywhere. Type nowhere.

Press your hotkey and start talking. Whynote captures your voice and inserts text wherever your cursor is — in any app, any field, any window.

Global hotkey — quick-tap to toggle, long-press for hold-to-speak
Works everywhere — dictate into any text field on your Mac
Auto-replace rules — custom shortcuts that expand as you speak
Cloud or on-device — choose fast cloud or private local transcription
Why Voice?

Speak at the speed of thought

Using Whynote Dictation
150 WPM
Let's schedule a follow-up meeting for next Tuesday at 2pm to review the Q4 marketing budget. Make sure to invite Sarah from design and ask her to bring the updated brand guidelines. Also, remind the team that the client presentation deadline moved to Friday.
Done in ~12 seconds
Using Keyboard
40 WPM
Done in ~45 seconds

The average person speaks 3× faster than they type. With Whynote, your voice becomes your most productive tool.

Built for speed. Designed for choice.

On-Device Option

Choose between fast cloud transcription or fully private on-device mode with local ML models.

Your Data, Your Choice

Run transcription in the cloud for speed, or fully on-device for privacy. Cloud sync keeps your notes safe across devices.

Works Offline

Record audio and take notes without an internet connection. Enable local models to also transcribe offline.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is Whynote?

Whynote is an AI note-taking app for macOS that turns audio into structured notes, summaries, and action items. Built by 42apps LLC, it records meetings, transcribes lectures, and offers global voice dictation in any text field on your Mac.

How does Whynote transcribe audio?

Whynote provides live speech-to-text with speaker diarization, and you can choose between on-device transcription or cloud processing via the OpenAI GPT API for AI summaries and chat. When recording meetings, Whynote captures both system audio and your microphone simultaneously.

Is Whynote private?

Whynote offers an on-device transcription option that keeps your audio entirely local, while the cloud option routes only what you choose through the OpenAI API. API credentials are stored securely in the macOS Keychain — full details are in the privacy policy at /privacy.

Does Whynote work offline?

Yes — Whynote's on-device transcription works fully offline on macOS without an internet connection. Cloud-powered features like AI summaries and chat require connectivity to reach the OpenAI API.

How is Whynote different from Apple Dictation?

Whynote is a system-wide dictation tool triggered by a global hotkey that works in any text field, paired with structured AI notes, full meeting recording, and ChatGPT-grade summaries. Apple Dictation, by contrast, is limited to short-form voice-to-text without recordings, summaries, or note organization.

Is Whynote free?

Yes, both the Mac and iPhone versions of Whynote are free to download — $0 USD. The Mac app ships as a DMG from whynote.ai, and the iOS app is available on the App Store.

Start capturing
smarter

Download Whynote for free and turn every conversation into actionable notes.

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Available for Mac and iPhone. Free to download.