Chronicler

VERSION 0.7.4

Installing takes two minutes

The app is 6.8 MB and needs neither an account nor an installer: open and drag. On first launch it downloads the recognition model once — after that it barely needs the internet at all.

Chronicler-0.7.4.dmg
6.8 MB · Apple Silicon · macOS 14+ · MIT
sha256 21f98e4d6c5ed41e1d4548bd393cefb57826df9aa18d8a6e35bd54bd3c9e0465
Download the image

If the disk image won’t open for some reason, here is the same bundle as an archive: Chronicler-0.7.4.zip, 5.8 MB, sha256 635966e1035673d650d2fb01e249f2f0f4ef31775de823ffa98d9fa76d052c39.

Three steps

  1. Step 1

    Open the image and drag to Applications

    Double-click the file, then drag the app into Applications — the image window has a shortcut for exactly that. Running it from Downloads works too, but then updates will be installed there.

  2. Step 2

    Launch it and wait for the model

    On first launch it downloads the recognition model — 461 MB, once. The system then spends about half a minute compiling it for your machine: you can leave the window open, but there’s nothing to watch.

  3. Step 3

    Drop in your first recording

    Any file: mp3, m4a, wav, mp4, mkv, webm, ogg. Or drop it straight onto the menu bar icon — no need to open the window. Or connect a Telegram bot in the settings and send voice messages from your phone.

macOS will warn about an unidentified developer

The app is signed but not notarised by Apple — that is a paid process and hasn’t been done yet. You allow it once, on the first install:

  1. 01Open the app with an ordinary double-click. macOS will say it can’t verify the developer and offer only “Done” — that is expected.
  2. 02System Settings → Privacy & Security. Scroll to the Security section: a line about Chronicler appears there, with an “Open Anyway” button.
  3. 03Click it, enter your computer password, and confirm with “Open”.

This used to be done by right-clicking the app, but macOS 15 closed that route — right-clicking no longer helps. After this the app opens the ordinary way, and updates never ask again.

What your computer needs

PROCESSOR

Apple Silicon: M1 and newer. There is no Intel build.

SYSTEM

macOS 14 Sonoma or newer.

DISK SPACE

About 1.5 GB: the app itself, the model, and the model compiled for your machine.

INTERNET

Once, to download the model. After that, only the version check.

If something goes wrong

“The app is damaged” or it won’t open

This happens when you run it straight from the disk image or the archive. Move the app into Applications first, then allow it once in System Settings → Privacy & Security → “Open Anyway”.

The model didn’t download

You can retry the download in the settings, under “Recognition”. Nothing already downloaded is lost: if the connection dropped, it resumes from the same place.

The format isn’t supported

The app reads audio from most containers, but not from DRM-protected files and not from streaming links. Save the recording as mp3 or m4a and try again.

Where the transcripts live

In the app’s folder inside your user Library. The source recordings stay where they were: the app neither moves nor copies them.

Updates install themselves

Every few hours the app asks for the latest version number, shows what changed and waits for your consent. Before installing it verifies the archive’s checksum and signature — a tampered archive simply won’t be installed.