Skip to main content
Vowen is mostly invisible. It runs in the background and puts a window on your screen only when one is useful. Each surface below is named alongside the setting that controls it.

​
The main window

One window, with a sidebar down the left and a toolbar across the top.

​
The Vowen AI group

Below the primary items, under a “Vowen AI” heading: The footer has Settings and Help. Help opens the contact form in your browser. The toolbar in the top right has the active AI provider (click it to jump to Configure your AI), a sun/moon button that toggles light and dark mode, and an account button. Press Cmd+K / Ctrl+K anywhere in this window for the command palette.

​
The Settings modal

Clicking Settings in the sidebar footer opens a modal over the main window with ten sections of its own: Account, General, Audio, Language, Recording, Shortcuts, Sync, Developer, Experimental, Permissions. A search field sits above the section list. See Settings for what is in each section.

​
The menu bar and tray

Vowen’s icon lives in the macOS menu bar and the Windows system tray. The menu is a full control surface. It switches models, languages, and microphones, starts and stops meeting notes, opens any sidebar page, and copies your last transcription. The icon itself changes while recording. See Settings for the full menu.

​
Windows Vowen can show

A small floating pill that appears while you dictate. It shows a live audio waveform and controls, and it is where errors, the live transcription preview, expansion picker, and various banners appear.On by default, anchored to the top of the screen. Change it in Settings > Recording > Recording Indicator Position, which offers Top, Bottom, or Don’t show.See Recording indicator.
An alternative to the pill that hangs the indicator from the notch area instead of floating over your work. It is a native panel rather than a web view, so it draws its own toasts and menus.Opt-in. Switch to it in Settings > Recording > Indicator style. Macs without a physical notch get an equivalent bar centered at the top.
A minimized bar pinned to the edge of your screen while you are not recording. Hover it and it expands so you can start a dictation, pick a tone, or start a note without touching a shortcut.Off by default. Turn on Show idle pill in Settings > Recording. It shares a window with the recording indicator, so it hides as soon as you start recording.
A floating card that appears while a meeting note is recording. Compact by default, it expands on hover to show the note in progress, with pause, resume, and mark-important controls. Drag it anywhere; Vowen remembers where you put it.On by default while recording notes. Turn it off in the notes settings, under Recording Defaults.See Recording meetings.
A wide card with Ask, Notes, and Transcript tabs, opened with Cmd+\ on macOS or Ctrl+\ on Windows while a meeting is recording. It is content-protected, so it does not appear if you are sharing your screen.Available whenever the meeting indicator is enabled. Press the shortcut again or Esc to close it.See Meeting panel.
A full-screen overlay that appears when you start Command Mode, letting you click and drag to grab a specific area of the screen as context instead of sending your whole display. It stays open so you can grab several regions, and it punches holes around the recording indicator and the meeting pill so those stay clickable.Off by default. Turn on Drag to capture region in Configure your AI. Press Esc to dismiss it.See Command Mode.
A small input window that appears when you trigger a text expansion containing {{variable}} placeholders. Fill in the values and the finished text is inserted where you were typing.It appears only for expansions you have written variables into. Esc cancels and leaves your typed trigger alone.See Text expander.
A small draggable pill with a countdown, controls to pause and stop, and a chime when it finishes. It appears when you ask for a timer by voice through Command Mode, and tears itself down a few seconds after the countdown ends.See Workflows.
A shareable image of your dictation stats. Vowen renders it off-screen, so there is nothing to click. The finished PNG appears inside the main window, where you can save or copy it.

​
Banners and prompts

These do not get their own window. They appear inside the recording indicator or the main window.

Settings

Every section of the Settings modal

Recording indicator

Position, style, and what it shows

Shortcuts

Every shortcut Vowen listens for

Privacy and data

What leaves your machine