Use Your Phone as a Microphone for Mac and Windows Dictation
Yes, your phone can be your computer's microphone for voice typing. Install YOURIO Receiver on your Mac or Windows PC, pair it with the YOURIO app on your phone by QR code, then hold the talk key (Right ⌥ on Mac, Right Alt on Windows) and speak into the phone. The text appears at your cursor in whatever app you're using. Speech is recognized on the phone, and only the final text is sent to the computer, end-to-end encrypted.
You talk faster than you type, but your computer can't hear you
Most of a knowledge worker's day is writing: email replies, Slack or Teams messages, meeting notes, documents, tickets. Saying a paragraph out loud takes a fraction of the time it takes to type it, and you may already do exactly that on your phone.
At the desk, it gets awkward. A desktop PC often has no microphone at all. A laptop's built-in mic sits an arm's length away and picks up the fan and the room. A headset is one more thing to buy, charge and wear all day. Meanwhile the best microphone you own is in your pocket, already set up with your languages and words.
Why the usual fixes fall short
Built-in dictation. macOS and Windows both have dictation built in, and for a quick note it's often fine. But it listens through the computer's own microphone, so you're back to the microphone problem, and nothing you've taught the voice keyboard on your phone carries over to it.
Buying a microphone. A good USB mic or headset solves the hearing part. It costs money and desk space, and you still need software that cleans up what you say.
A desktop AI dictation subscription. Apps such as Typeless produce lovely, clean text. The trade-off is a monthly subscription, and your audio is recognized on the company's cloud servers (Typeless says it is discarded once the result is returned). If either part bothers you, see the Typeless alternative.
How YOURIO Receiver works
YOURIO Receiver is a small app that lives in the Mac menu bar or the Windows system tray. It doesn't listen to anything itself. When you hold the talk key, it asks your phone to start listening.
- You hold the talk key. A small sound-wave indicator appears near the bottom of your screen.
- You speak into your phone. Your phone's own on-device recognizer turns speech into text. The audio is never saved and never sent to YOURIO.
- You let go. The phone applies whatever you've turned on there, such as Magic cleanup or translation, and sends only the finished text to the computer.
- The text appears at your cursor, in any app: Mail, Slack, Word, a browser form, your code editor. The computer types it and keeps no copy.
An example in Slack, with Magic on. You hold Right ⌥ and say:
"um so the deploy is at four, no wait, five, and uh can someone check the staging logs"
What lands in the message box:
The deploy is at 5. Can someone check the staging logs?
Magic · Standard removed the fillers, kept only your final correction and added punctuation, all on the phone and free. Magic · Enhanced, the cloud AI option, can also reorder scattered thoughts and turn a spoken list into bullet points while keeping your tone. Real-time translation works the same way: speak English, and Spanish can appear on the computer.
A few details that matter day to day:
- Network. Phone and computer connect over the same Wi-Fi. If the network blocks devices from seeing each other, as many office and school networks do, YOURIO switches to its encrypted relay automatically. The relay only passes along encrypted data it cannot read.
- Several computers. One phone can pair with your work Mac and your home PC. The text goes to whichever computer's talk key you held.
- Memory. If Memory is on, what you dictate is saved as text on your phone, labeled with the computer's name. Turn Memory off and nothing is saved anywhere.
- Your dictionary comes along. Names and jargon you've added to the personal dictionary on your phone apply to what you dictate on the computer too.
What you need
| Requirements | First-time setup | |
|---|---|---|
| Mac | macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon | Allow Accessibility so the Receiver can type at your cursor. If macOS asks about the local network, allowing it lets the phone connect directly instead of through the relay. |
| Windows | Windows 10 (1809) or later, x64 or ARM64 | Install from the Microsoft Store; it updates automatically. |
| Phone | YOURIO for iPhone (iOS 16 or later) or Android (8.0 or later) | Download your language in the Speak tab so it can be recognized on the device. |
The Receiver is free, and using your phone as the microphone doesn't need an API key or a subscription. Only Magic · Enhanced uses cloud AI: YOURIO AI gives you 2,000 words a week free after you sign in, YOURIO Pro is US$2.99 a month for 1,000,000 words, or you can use your own API key.
Honest limits
- The phone has to be nearby. The computer's own microphone isn't used at all. If you want to dictate straight into your laptop's mic without a phone, this isn't the right tool.
- Edit and Ask Memory are not available on the computer. Selecting text and saying how to change it, or asking questions about your Memory, work on the phone only.
- Magic treats everything on the computer as general text. On the phone keyboard it can tell a chat app from an email app and format accordingly; on the computer it can't see which app you're in.
- Languages depend on your phone. YOURIO recognizes the languages your phone's on-device recognizer supports.
- The phone app has to be ready. On iPhone, the YOURIO app keeps listening ready in the background; on Android, a notification shows while it's connected. Intel Macs aren't supported.
Set it up in five minutes
- Install YOURIO on your phone and download your language in the Speak tab.
- Install YOURIO Receiver on your computer (download links are at the end of this article) and give it the permission it asks for.
- The Receiver shows a QR code. On your phone, open YOURIO › Voice › Output Device › Computer › Scan the QR on your computer. The code works for 5 minutes.
- Click into any text box on the computer, hold the talk key, speak into the phone and let go. On Mac, the Receiver asks you to press the key you'd like to use the first time.
- Optional: turn on Magic or translation on the phone, and add the names you use most to the personal dictionary.
More for computer work: voice typing on Windows beyond Win+H, a voice workflow for sore wrists, speaking a first draft and voice typing for developers. If privacy is your first question, read Does voice typing upload your voice?
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my phone as a microphone for my computer?
Yes. With YOURIO, install YOURIO Receiver on your Mac or Windows PC and pair it with the YOURIO app on your phone by QR code. Hold Right ⌥ on Mac or Right Alt on Windows (Right Ctrl on keyboard layouts with AltGr; you can choose another key), speak into the phone, and the recognized text is typed at the cursor in any app.
Is my voice sent to the computer or to YOURIO?
No. Speech is recognized on the phone and the audio is never saved or sent to YOURIO. Only the final text goes to the computer, end-to-end encrypted, and the computer doesn't keep a copy. If you use Magic · Enhanced, the text (never audio) is sent to the cloud AI you chose.
Do the phone and computer need to be on the same Wi-Fi?
That's the usual setup. If the Wi-Fi blocks devices from seeing each other, as many office and school networks do, YOURIO connects through its encrypted relay automatically, and the relay cannot read what you send.
Does YOURIO Receiver cost anything?
No. The Receiver is free, and voice typing, translation and Magic · Standard are free with no word limit. Only Magic · Enhanced uses cloud AI: 2,000 free words a week with YOURIO AI, YOURIO Pro at US$2.99 a month, or your own API key.
Sources: Typeless privacy policy (checked October 2026).
