If the app ever hard-freezes, it now recovers itself: after 30 seconds it restarts automatically instead of sitting beachballed in the menu bar (and files a diagnostic report so the cause can be fixed).
Settings → Audio now explains always-on mode properly: a clear “Always-on Bluetooth microphone” toggle and two expandable answers covering the orange mic indicator (idle audio is discarded — nothing is recorded until you press Fn) and what always-on costs (Bluetooth call-quality audio, a little battery).
New answers under Settings → Transcription for the on-device engine: how language selection works, and why the first dictation in a new language takes a moment (one-time model download — offline, private, and free after that).
New FAQ section in the sidebar: how to dictate, where your text goes, what leaves your Mac (with the on-device engine: nothing), what the app costs, and what to do when Fn goes quiet or a red ring appears.
ORKA VOICE now keeps the microphone ready from your first dictation
onward, so pressing Fn starts instantly every time — no more waiting for
Bluetooth headphones to reconnect between takes. A new “Release
microphone when idle” setting (Settings → Audio) restores the old
behavior if you prefer your Bluetooth audio quality back between
dictations.
If your selected microphone stops delivering audio (dead Bluetooth
route, virtual audio device, iPhone Continuity mic), dictation now
automatically falls back to your Mac’s built-in microphone instead of
failing.
Dictations can no longer be silently lost while a microphone is still
connecting: a real attempt that captured nothing now shows a clear
error, and a tiny tail-end fragment of a longer sentence is never pasted
as if it were the whole thing.
The app can no longer freeze on audio-system stalls — all audio-device
communication moved off the interface thread.
The Settings microphone test now honestly reports a dead selected device
instead of passing via the fallback.
Fixed the failed first dictation after switching to AirPods: cold
Bluetooth microphones get the time they actually need to connect, and a
failed start now re-arms the mic in the background so a retry is
instant.
New sound cues: a soft rising chime when the mic is truly listening
(speak after the chime!) and a falling one when your take is captured.
Toggle in Settings → General.
Updates and downloads now live at orka.tools. This release is the first
whose auto-update actually works — older builds must download once
manually.
Added a step-by-step help popover for getting an OpenAI API key
(Settings → Transcription).
