Desktop Local Mode on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Private Transcription That Stays on Your Device

Keep sensitive recordings off the cloud. In the LiteScribe desktop app Local Mode, your audio is transcribed on your own machine and never uploaded, with on-device AI for notes.

Private transcription means your audio and transcript stay on your own computer instead of being uploaded to a transcription company. The LiteScribe desktop app does this with Local Mode, which runs on-device speech recognition and on-device AI on Windows, macOS, and Linux. No audio leaves your machine in Local Mode, so it suits confidential, regulated, and sensitive recordings.

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Why private transcription matters

Most transcription tools, including the LiteScribe web and mobile apps, work by uploading your audio to a cloud transcription service and then sending the text to an AI provider for summaries. That is fine for a lot of content, but it is the wrong shape for a privileged legal call, a patient consultation, a board meeting, an HR conversation, or any recording you simply do not want sitting on a third-party server. Private transcription flips the model: the audio never leaves your device.

In LiteScribe, private transcription is the desktop Local Mode. The on-device speech-recognition engine produces the transcript on your machine, and an on-device AI model writes the summary and action items, also locally. Nothing is sent to AssemblyAI, to Google, or to any other AI company in this mode. You hold the only copy, on your own disk, unless you explicitly choose to sync a recording to the cloud.

How LiteScribe keeps it private

Privacy here is structural, not a policy promise. Because the transcription and the AI both run on your CPU or GPU, there is no upload step for your audio and no API call carrying your transcript to an outside model. The desktop app stores the audio and the transcript on your machine, and you choose per recording whether to keep it local or sync it. When you keep it local, only a small usage-count entry is recorded so your plan minutes stay accurate; the content itself is not pushed.

This is a real difference from the common marketing line of "we do not train on your data". That promise still depends on your data reaching the provider in the first place. With Local Mode, your data does not reach a provider at all for the transcription and on-device AI steps, so there is nothing on a server to misuse, leak, or subpoena. That is what makes it suitable for the most sensitive recordings.

Honest about what connects

We will not claim the app is fully air-gapped, because it is not. Private transcription protects your content, not your network silence. The on-device models download once when you first enable Local Mode. After that the desktop app still reconnects to LiteScribe on a light, periodic schedule to confirm your subscription and your remaining minutes, and it pauses new offline work if it has not been able to check in for around two days. None of that traffic carries your audio or your transcript.

If you need an explicit accuracy boundary: the private guarantee is that your recording and its transcript stay on your device in Local Mode. The app validates your account over the network, the same way most paid software checks a license, and you stay in control of whether any individual recording is ever synced. For most confidential work, that is exactly the line that matters.

Why use LiteScribe Local Mode

Audio never uploaded

In Local Mode the transcription runs on your machine, so your recording is not sent to any transcription company.

No third-party AI sees it

The on-device AI writes your summary and notes locally, so the transcript is not sent to an outside AI model.

You hold the only copy

Audio and transcript live on your disk. You decide per recording whether anything is ever synced to the cloud.

Built for sensitive work

Suited to legal, healthcare, finance, HR, and other confidential recordings where upload is not an option.

Private Transcription That Stays on Your Device

1
Get the desktop app
Private transcription is the desktop Local Mode on the Pro and Business plans. Download LiteScribe for Windows, macOS, or Linux.
2
Enable Local Mode
Turn on Local Mode and download the on-device transcription and AI models. This one-time download is the only step that uses the network.
3
Record or import privately
Record a meeting or pick a file. The audio is transcribed on your CPU or GPU and is never uploaded while Local Mode is on.
4
Keep it local
The on-device AI writes notes on your machine. Leave the recording set to local so nothing syncs, or opt it in to the cloud only when you want to.

What is private, and what is honest

Privacy on this page means the desktop Local Mode, where your audio is transcribed on your own CPU or GPU and an on-device AI model writes your notes, so your recording and its transcript stay on your machine. The web app, the mobile app, and the cloud path are different: they use a cloud transcription service and cloud AI, so they are not private in this sense. Local Mode is a desktop feature on the Pro and Business plans, available for Windows, macOS, and Linux after a one-time model download.

We will not call the app air-gapped, because it is not. Your content stays on your device, but the desktop app reconnects to LiteScribe periodically to validate your plan and remaining minutes, and it pauses new offline work if it cannot check in for about two days. That account check carries none of your audio or transcript. You also choose, per recording, whether to keep it local or sync it to the cloud for access on your other devices.

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