Petal
Petal is a native macOS menu bar app for fast, local-first audio transcription.
About Petal
Petal for macOS
Petal is a native macOS app for fast, local-first audio transcription in a clean, minimal interface.
Petal W1
Petal W1 (opens in a new tab) is Petal's on-device cleanup model, fine-tuned from Qwen3.5-2B. It turns a rambling dictation into the short message you meant, in your own voice, in about 0.2 s. Claude Sonnet graded each output on 120 held-out real dictations.
Cloud Models
Petal can also clean up your dictation with a cloud model. Use your own OpenAI, Anthropic, or OpenRouter key, or any OpenAI-compatible server such as Ollama or LM Studio. Open Settings > Intelligence and choose Cloud Model.
- Start from a preset (Clean Up, Email, Notes, Professional, AI Prompt, or Assistant) or write your own system prompt, then test it in Try It.
- Insert variables that Petal fills in on your Mac each time:
{{name}},{{first_name}},{{app}},{{window}},{{language}},{{region}}, and{{time_zone}}. - Turn on Date and Time to turn words like "next Friday" into exact dates. Turn on Web Search to let the model look up facts that you ask for.
- Turn on Screen to send a screenshot of your screen with each dictation, so the model can spell the names it sees and know what "this" means. Screen needs Screen Recording access and is not available for custom servers.
- In Settings > Router, each app or website route can use its own intelligence (Apple Intelligence, Petal W1, or Cloud Model) instead of the default. A Cloud Model route uses the provider, model, and tools from Settings > Intelligence.
- Petal keeps your keys in the macOS keychain and sends the transcript, and the screenshot when Screen is on, only to the provider that you choose.
Description adapted from the project README.
- Version
- 2.6.0
- Updated
- Oct 5, 2026
- Size
- 45 MB
- License
- MIT License
Open source details
- Source code
- Exact source for v2.6.0
- Released
- Oct 5, 2026
- GitHub stars
- 276
- Website
- github.com/Aayush9029/petal
Community project. Help and bug reports go to the maintainers on GitHub; AppsXi does not provide support for this app.
License
PermissiveMIT License
Use, change and share it freely, including in closed source apps, as long as the copyright notice stays.
Read the full licenseHow this app was checked
AppsXi checks every version before it is listed.
Signed by Optimal Life Technologies, Inc (6Q29HJZ4AG)
Apple Developer ID team 6Q29HJZ4AG
Notarized by Apple
Extra macOS protections on (Hardened Runtime)
File matches the fingerprint GitHub published
Show the SHA-256
92bd10703e22f29a81cc2089d498a81b1807d95779edfa552316cbcb23435f28
No malware found
ClamAV 1.5.4 on Oct 20, 2026
Updates itself from the maintainer's own feed
sparkle: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Aayush9029/petal/main/appcast.xml. AppsXi checks each new version too.
Not included yet: installing and watching the app run in a virtual machine.
What these checks do and don't coverVersions
Checked Oct 20, 2026 · Mac
DMG · 45 MB
Questions about Petal
Is Petal free?
Yes. Petal is free and open source under the MIT License. AppsXi lists the maintainers' official release and does not charge for it.
Is Petal safe to download?
AppsXi downloads every version of Petal from the maintainers' official GitHub release and checks it before it is listed. For version 2.6.0 (checked Oct 20, 2026), the Mac download is signed by its developer and notarized by Apple, each file matches the checksum GitHub publishes for the release, byte for byte and a malware scan found nothing.
Does Petal run on Apple silicon Macs?
Yes. Petal has a native Apple silicon build.
What does Petal need to run?
Petal needs macOS Sequoia (15) or later.
Who makes Petal?
Petal is an open source project by Aayush on GitHub (Aayush9029/petal). Help and bug reports go to its maintainers there.
Reviews
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