Hold a key and speak. Halo types what you meant, answers what you ask, and gets things done — in a native app that feels like it shipped with macOS.
First time? Here's how to open it — it takes 30 seconds.
Psst… it's interactive! Press and hold the screen.
Any text field, any app. Hold, talk, let go.
Ums vanish. "3, no wait, 4" becomes 4.
A real brain, not "here's what I found on the web."
Weather, scores, news — current, not stale.
Plus apps, reminders, notes, music, volume.
"Summarize this." "Reply to this." Done.
Built with macOS 26's own glass. Feels stock.
Answers land before you've let go of the key.
From releasing the key to text at your cursor.
Faster than typing. You speak ~150 wpm, you type ~40.
API keys on your Mac. A tiny gateway holds them for you.
Unzip Halo.zip and drag Halo into your Applications folder.
macOS will say it can't verify Halo. That's expected while we're in beta — click Done.
Open System Settings, scroll to the bottom, click Open Anyway and confirm.
Privacy & Security → SecurityAllow the Microphone, then switch Halo on under Accessibility so it can hear the key and type for you.
Privacy & Security → AccessibilityThat's it — hold Right ⌥ and start talking. Halo lives in your menu bar. (Right-click → Open no longer works on macOS 15 and later; use Open Anyway.)
Hold Right Option to dictate into whatever you're typing in. Hold Right Command to ask Halo something out loud, or press ⌥ Space to type a question. Tap the dictation key once for hands-free, tap again to finish. Every key is remappable.
Halo runs on modern models via Groq, so it understands messy speech, fixes it up the way you'd write it, and actually answers questions instead of offering web results. It can also act: run your Shortcuts, add reminders, open apps and search the web live.
Only when you talk to it. Ask out loud and Halo answers out loud; type a question and it answers quietly on screen.
Halo only records while you're holding a key. Audio goes through your gateway to Groq for transcription and isn't kept by Halo. Your history stays on your Mac.
Anywhere you can type: Mail, Messages, Slack, Notion, VS Code, your browser. Halo pastes like you would, then puts your clipboard back.
A Mac on macOS 26 Tahoe. On first launch, Halo asks for Microphone and Accessibility access — that's how it hears the hold key and types for you.
Halo isn't notarized by Apple yet. It's safe to open — follow the install steps and click Open Anyway in Privacy & Security once.