Can Handy transcribe live audio (e.g., video calls) for real-time captions?

[strawberry-code]

Hi everyone,

I recently discovered Handy and I’m trying to understand how it works. I’m deaf and I’d love to use it to generate real-time captions during a video conference (for example, Zoom, Meet, or FaceTime).

Is it possible to use Handy to transcribe live system audio (not just microphone input) so that I can see subtitles while the conversation happens?

If not, could you recommend any free or open-source alternatives that can do this on macOS (Apple Silicon)?

Thank you very much for your help 🙏

[cjpais]

Wow thanks for this discussion. I think this is a great idea and would love to have Handy do this. At the moment it's probably not capable of this, but as we bring in support for real time transcription I will see how we can support this use case too!

[strawberry-code]

Thank you for your kind reply! 😄 I’m a software developer with broad experience across several areas of computer science, including UX design, and I’d be happy to help if you ever need suggestions, feedback, or any kind of contribution—big or small.
I’m available anytime and glad to support this project in any way I can.
Kind regards ☺️

[ohah]

@cjpais
Hi! I'd love to help implement real-time caption functionality for live audio. I saw this discussion and thought I could contribute by working on this feature. Would it be okay if I start implementing this? I'm happy to discuss the approach and get feedback before diving in. Thanks!

[cjpais]

I don't know how you want to integrate it but you can work on it without my permission. If it's a well thought out feature that seamlessly coexists with the app it will be pulled in. Otherwise it will not.

[ohah]

Thank you! I’ll work on it and open a PR once it’s ready.

[codev7777]

Hi @ohah , this feature is what I really wanted and I hope you bring great results.
Really thank you.

[ManyDragons]

Your work is very good! I really like this project! I also want this feature! When you implement this feature, perhaps you can also add a subtitle to facilitate text reading.

[EthanNguyenPM]

Hey, it's 2026! Have we gotten this feature yet?

[cjpais]

No. Likely this app is not going to have this feature

[monarksingh]

It would be a killer feature to have though. Or at least the capability to upload an audio and get the transcription out of it (with a probable speaker identification feature sprinkled on top ;) )