Aparte support

Requirements

System

macOS 26 or later

Mac

With Apple silicon, M1 or later

Memory

8 GB or more

Account

None. The app doesn't ask you to sign up.

AI

Optional. An Anthropic or OpenAI API key, or a server compatible with the OpenAI API.

Internet

For the AI, iCloud and downloading a language or a model. After that, recording, transcription and search work offline.

Microphone and system audio permissions

Aparte records your voice through the microphone and other people's voices through the system audio, the call's sound playing on the Mac. macOS asks for each permission once, and the app works with any combination.

1. At first launch. The Permissions step shows both. Turning an item on asks macOS for it, or you can leave it for the first recording.

2. To check. In Settings › Permissions, click Test. To test the system audio, play some sound on the Mac; nothing is recorded.

3. If you said no. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security and turn Aparte on in Microphone and in Screen & System Audio Recording. The app's "Open System Settings" button opens System Settings.

• Without the microphone, the app records only the call.
• Without system audio, the other people's channel stays silent.
• The screen isn't recorded. macOS keeps the system audio permission next to screen recording, but Aparte uses only the audio.

Connect an AI with your own key

The summary, next steps, questions, meeting preparation, the Chat and the notes assistant use an AI provider that you connect with your own key. Without AI, Aparte is still a complete transcriber: it records, separates the speakers, searches, copies and exports.

1. Create the key. In Settings › AI › Providers, the "Create API Key" link opens Anthropic's or OpenAI's key page.

2. Connect. Click "Connect…" on the Anthropic - Claude or OpenAI - ChatGPT row, paste the key and click Test.

3. Accept. Read what is sent, when and to whom, and click "Accept and Save". The key stays in the Mac's Keychain.

• At first launch, the AI step can connect too, or you can leave it for later with "Not Now".
• Compatible server: on the Compatible server row, enter the address of a server compatible with the OpenAI API, such as Ollama or LM Studio. The key is optional, and what happens to the text depends on who runs the server.
• Cost: "See Balance" opens the provider's billing page. Each answer shows the provider and model that produced it, and, after your first meetings, Settings estimates the tokens per hour of meeting.
• Remove: the "Remove" button deletes the connection and the key from the Keychain.

Speech models and languages

• On the Mac. Transcription runs on your Mac, without sending the audio to anyone.
• Apple's transcription. On macOS 26 or later it is the default, and the app downloads nothing. If the meeting's language isn't on the Mac, macOS downloads it, and the app shows the progress.
• Already included. The models that detect speech and tell people apart come with the app.
• Parakeet. In Settings › Speech Models, you can switch to Parakeet, which made fewer errors in our tests. It is downloaded once, from Hugging Face (632 MB), and the app shows the size and the free space first.
• Languages. Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, German and Italian, or Automatic. The default is in Settings › Recording, and the Record sheet changes the language for that meeting only. The app's interface is in Portuguese and English.
• Offline. With the model on the Mac, recording, transcription and search work without internet.

Sync with iCloud

To have the same meetings and notes on all your Macs, turn on "Sync with iCloud", in Settings › Privacy and Data. It's off by default and asks you to accept first.

• What goes: finished meetings, with the transcript, annotations and the assistant's answers; notes, with attachments up to 2 GB, and note templates; the folders, assistants, skills and meeting types you created; and the memory.
• Encrypted: everything goes to your iCloud with end-to-end encryption, and we have no access.
• On each Mac: API keys, provider connections, the Sharing Log and settings. Connect the AI on each Mac.
• Another Mac needs the same iCloud account. With the app's PIN on, it asks for that PIN once.
• Right away: "Sync Now" syncs without waiting.
• Deletions: a meeting deleted on one Mac disappears from the others. Automatic deletion removes only the copy on the Mac where it runs.
• What doesn't fit, such as an attachment over 2 GB, stays only on the Mac, and Settings tells you.
• Turning it off keeps everything on the Mac. "Delete iCloud Copy…" deletes only the cloud copy.

Delete your data

• One meeting: right-click the meeting in the list and choose "Delete…", or use Meeting › Delete Meeting…. A note goes with "Delete Note…".
• Automatically: "Delete meetings automatically", in Settings › Privacy and Data, deletes each meeting 24 hours, 7, 30 or 90 days after it ends.
• Everything: "Erase All Data…", in Settings › Privacy and Data. A sheet first shows what goes, and the "Also delete the iCloud copy" box deletes the cloud copy too. The speech models stay. This can't be undone.
• The AI: "Remove", in Settings › AI › Providers, deletes the key from the Keychain. What was already sent follows the provider's policy.
• Usage data: turn off "Share usage data", in Settings › Privacy and Data.
• Before removing the app: removing the app may leave its data folder on the Mac, encrypted. To delete everything, use "Erase All Data" first.

The privacy policy says what each deletion removes and what may have left the Mac.

FAQ