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The first time you open Vowen, a short intro plays over your desktop and a setup card opens in the middle of the screen. The card has 11 steps. Three of them must be completed before you can continue: your name, permissions and a speech model. The rest are hands-on demos you can click through. If you quit partway through, Vowen reopens on the step you left. The intro animation plays only once.

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The intro

A full-screen animation of the Vowen mark plays over your desktop, then the setup card scales into place. Press any key to skip it.

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The card toolbar

Three buttons sit in the top-right corner of the card on every step:
  • Change language: switches the interface language for setup and the rest of the app. See Interface language.
  • Mute music: silences the background music that plays during setup. It appears only while sound effects are on.
  • Switch to dark mode / Switch to light mode: toggles the theme.

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The steps

1

Welcome

Click Get started. Continuing means you accept Vowen’s Privacy Policy, which is linked under the button.The Vowen welcome step reading Create faster with your voice, with a Get started button and the language, music and theme buttons in the top-right corner
2

Personalize your experience

Enter your name. It is required and must be at least two characters. Vowen uses it to greet you across the app.Email is optional and used only for major updates. You can also pick what you plan to use your voice for: Writing documents, Drafting emails, Sending messages, Coding with AI, Chatting with AI, Taking notes, Meeting summaries, Automating tasks or Something else.The Personalize your experience step with Name and optional Email fields and a set of use-case chips
3

Private by design

A summary of what runs on your device and what is optional. Click Continue. See Privacy and data for the details.The Private by design step explaining that the speech model runs on your device
4

Grant permissions

Click Grant beside each permission:
  • Microphone, required for voice recording.
  • Accessibility (macOS only), for global shortcuts and auto-paste.
Continue stays disabled until every listed permission shows as granted. On Windows only the microphone is listed.On macOS, clicking Grant for Accessibility opens System Settings along with a small floating card that reads “Drag Vowen into the Accessibility list”. Drag it into the list to grant the permission. You do not need to restart Vowen afterwards. See Permissions.The Grant permissions step with Microphone and Accessibility rows, both marked as granted
5

Your local AI

Pick a speech model and click Download model. It runs on your device, so dictation works offline.After the download, Vowen optimizes the model for your device. This can take up to 30 seconds. Continue appears once the title changes to Model ready.You can switch to another local model or a cloud engine later in Speech models. See Models.The Your local AI step listing Parakeet Ultra as Recommended, Parakeet V2 and Parakeet V3, with a Download model buttonThe model step showing download progressThe model step after the download, titled Model ready
6

Try your voice

Click the text box, then press and hold your transcription shortcut and speak. The default is Fn on macOS and Ctrl + Shift on Windows.To use a different key, click Change shortcut. If the keys on screen don’t light up when you press them, click Restart app to restart the keyboard listener.The Try your voice step with the shortcut keys shown above an empty text box
7

Try a voice shortcut

Hold the shortcut and say one of the phrases on screen, such as “Google weather today”, “YouTube steak recipes” or “Open Downloads”. See Voice shortcuts.The Try a voice shortcut step listing three example phrases
8

Try an expansion

Type a trigger such as :ooo, :sign or :addr into the box and watch it expand. No microphone needed. See Text expander.The Try an expansion step with the triggers :ooo, :sign and :addr
9

Try threads

A thread is a saved value you speak instead of type. Hold the shortcut, read the sentence on the card and Vowen replaces the trigger words with the saved values. See Threads.The Try threads step showing a sample sentence and what Vowen writes
10

Try a command

Hold the Command Mode shortcut (Option + Shift / Alt + Shift) and say one of the example commands. This step is a demo. Real commands need an AI provider, which you add later in Language models. See Command Mode.The Try a command step with a Demo badge and example commands such as Polish text and Translate
11

Capture notes

An introduction to meeting notes. Click Start using Vowen to finish. See Meeting notes.The Capture notes step with a Start using Vowen button
When you finish, the card expands into the main window.

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Free vs Pro

If you are on the Free plan, a dialog comparing Free and Pro opens once, right after setup. Pro is a one-time payment with no subscription, for up to 3 devices. The dialog offers three choices:
  • Stay on Free closes it.
  • Compare plans opens the pricing page in your browser.
  • Buy License opens the purchase page.
If you already have a licence key, enter it under Already have a licence? and click Activate. See Pricing. The Free vs Pro dialog headed Stop paying for 3 subscriptions, with Stay on Free, Compare plans and Buy License buttons and a licence key field

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After setup

A Get started checklist in the bottom-right corner of the main window tracks six first steps: dictating for the first time, connecting an AI provider, creating a voice shortcut, adding dictionary words, creating a text expansion and recording a meeting note. See Home.