Longer dictation sessions — now up to 20 minutes

A single dictation session now runs up to 20 minutes on Mac. Draft long emails, capture meeting notes, or think through an essay out loud — there's nothing to configure.

How it works in Flow

Key behaviors

• One-minute warning: At 19 minutes, Flow shows "You have <1 minute left before you reach the 20 minute limit!"

• Automatic stop at 20 minutes: Flow ends the session, transcribes everything recorded before the cutoff, and shows "Transcription session ended. Flow supports up to 20 minutes per session." with a Recover text button that inserts the transcript.

• Recovering the last transcript: Choose "Paste last transcript" from the tray menu, or press Cmd+Ctrl+V to paste and Cmd+Ctrl+C to copy. Displayed shortcuts reflect your custom bindings; the tray item stays disabled until the session's first transcription.

• Mid-session recovery: If the mic disconnects, "Microphone disconnected — Click below to insert the text recorded up to this point." offers Insert. If transcription fails, "Something's not right — Transcript failed to load. You can always recover it from History." offers Retry and Open History. A cancelled session shows "Transcript cancelled" with Undo.

• Minimal wait between sessions: Press your dictation hotkey again once the previous transcript finishes processing (usually a few seconds). Triggering during processing shows "Flow was processing your last transcript"; its Cancel button dismisses the notice. Very rapid repeated presses may be ignored.

• Slow transcription: Flow shows a "taking longer than usual" notice that clears when your text pastes.

Best practices

• Speak naturally — Flow handles pauses, filler words, and corrections.

• Use voice commands like "new line" or "new paragraph" to structure text as you go.

• Wait for the previous transcript to finish before starting a new session.

FAQs

Limitations and notes

• This update applies to Mac only. Mobile session limits are unchanged.

• Free plan on desktop: a weekly dictation word cap applies, resetting every Sunday at 12 a.m. PT. Near the cap, Flow shows "You're approaching your weekly dictation limit" with your remaining words; at the cap, "You've reached your weekly dictation limit." No word-limit messaging appears before you're close.

• Free plan on iOS: a separate weekly dictation allowance applies with its own cap.

• If Flow quits or crashes mid-dictation, that session is not resumed or pasted on next launch.

• If no audio is detected — for example, the hotkey was tapped too briefly, or a MacBook is in clamshell mode with no built-in mic available — Flow shows an explanatory notice instead of a transcript.

• If another app holds Secure Keyboard Entry (a known 1Password issue), your dictation hotkey can appear unresponsive and Flow shows a non-mutable "Flow's shortcuts are blocked" alert.