Desktop Local Mode on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Private Transcription That Runs 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 recording is processed 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 and no outside provider sees your transcript, 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. The audio never leaves your disk at all. The finished transcript does sync to your own LiteScribe account by default so you can reach it from another device, and stopping that is one switch away.

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 writes the audio and the transcript to your own disk. From there the transcript syncs to your own LiteScribe account unless you say otherwise, so the one setting worth knowing is "Sync new local transcripts to cloud" in Settings, Privacy. Turn it off and new local transcripts stay on this computer only, with nothing but a small usage-count entry recorded so your plan minutes stay accurate.

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 guarantee is that your recording is never uploaded in Local Mode, and that neither the audio nor the transcript is ever handed to a transcription company or an outside AI model. The app validates your account over the network, the same way most paid software checks a license. The transcript itself syncs to your own LiteScribe account by default for cross-device access, and one switch keeps it here. 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.

The audio copy is yours alone

The audio stays on your disk. The transcript syncs to your own LiteScribe account until you switch that off, per recording or for everything new.

Built for sensitive work

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

Private Transcription That Runs 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. Turn off "Sync new local transcripts to cloud" in Settings, Privacy so the transcript stays here with the audio.

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 is never uploaded and no outside provider ever sees your transcript. 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 audio 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 content. One more thing worth saying plainly: the finished transcript syncs to your own LiteScribe account by default, so you can read it on your other devices. Turn off "Sync new local transcripts to cloud" in Settings, Privacy, or lock an individual transcript, and the text stays here with the audio.

Local Mode Privacy and security Privacy policy

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

A privacy policy is a promise about how a provider handles data you have already sent them. Private transcription in LiteScribe Local Mode means your audio and transcript are produced on your own machine and are never sent to a transcription company or an AI provider in the first place, so there is nothing on their servers to misuse. Your transcript does sync to your own LiteScribe account unless you turn that off, which is a setting you control rather than a promise you have to trust.

No. With Local Mode on, transcription and AI run on your CPU or GPU and no audio is uploaded, whatever your sync settings say. The transcript is the separate question: it syncs to your own LiteScribe account by default, and you can stop that per recording or for everything new in Settings, Privacy.

Not completely. Your audio stays on your device, but the app downloads models once and reconnects periodically to validate your plan and minutes, and that account check carries none of your content. Transcript sync is separate and is on by default. Turn it off in Settings, Privacy and the plan check is the only thing leaving the machine.

No. The web and mobile apps transcribe in the cloud. Private, on-device transcription is a desktop-only feature in the LiteScribe app for Windows, macOS, and Linux on the Pro and Business plans.

Yes. In Local Mode the AI runs on-device, so summaries, action items, and notes are generated on your machine without sending the transcript to any cloud AI provider.