NotchLiveMeetings and calls
Follow Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, customer calls, interviews, and remote training sessions.
Mac live captions
Live captions for Mac apps, calls, and videos.
NotchLive is a live caption app for Mac powered by on-device Whisper. It captions system audio, microphone speech, or both for Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, browsers, videos, lectures, and podcasts without joining your meeting.
Live captions are free forever. Translation, session history, Voice Notes, export, and Meeting Intelligence require Pro.
Mac audio captions
Caption system audio, microphone speech, or both, depending on the source you choose.
No meeting bot
NotchLive stays on your Mac instead of joining Zoom, Meet, or Teams as another participant.
Free captions forever
Start with unlimited live captions, then upgrade once for translation, history, export, and notes.
Works beyond one app
Use it for calls, browser audio, videos, lectures, webinars, podcasts, and microphone speech.
Caption the audio already playing on your Mac.
Built-in captions and app captions are useful. The problem is coverage. A meeting app, browser video, podcast, webinar, and microphone conversation can each behave differently.
NotchLive is built for the gap between those tools: a private caption layer for the audio you are already listening to on your Mac.
Videos and browser audio
Caption spoken content from browsers, course videos, livestreams, podcasts, and recorded material.
Microphone speech
Use mic mode for in-person conversations, classes, practice sessions, and quick speech-to-text workflows.
Use it without changing the app you are in.
NotchLive works at the Mac audio layer, so it can help with the calls, videos, browsers, and audio sources you already use instead of asking everyone to move into a new meeting workspace.
Zoom
Google Meet
Microsoft Teams
Browser audio
YouTube
Podcasts
Lectures
Microphone speech
Apple Live Captions, app captions, and NotchLive
| Option | Best for | Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Live Captions | Built-in accessibility support on supported Macs. | Availability and behavior can vary by macOS version, language, region, and audio context. |
| App captions | Zoom, Meet, Teams, YouTube, or other app-specific caption features. | Captions usually stay inside that app and may depend on host settings, browser support, or platform features. |
| NotchLive | A Mac-wide caption layer for calls, videos, browser audio, and microphone speech. | Requires Mac audio permissions and local model setup. Translation depends on supported macOS and language features. |
Boundary: NotchLive is not trying to replace every built-in caption feature. It is for the moments when you need captions for Mac audio itself, not only for one app that decided to support captions.
Whisper live captions on Mac, without cloud transcription.
After you download a speech model, NotchLive runs Whisper speech recognition on-device. The caption layer stays independent from the app producing the audio, so you can keep the same private workflow across meetings, videos, browsers, and microphone conversations.
When a conversation needs a retained record, the NotchLive meeting transcription workflow adds meeting-local speaker labels, participant review, and Meeting Analytics. Read the technical guide to understand how speaker diarization works and why live labels remain provisional.
| Step | What happens | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Choose audio | Pick system audio, microphone audio, or both, depending on what you need to follow. | You can use the caption layer with existing Mac apps and audio sources. |
| 2. Caption speech | Whisper AI speech recognition runs on-device after the model is downloaded. | NotchLive does not need to upload meeting audio to its own cloud transcription service. |
| 3. Keep reading | Captions stay close to your Mac workspace instead of becoming another meeting participant. | You can follow the conversation privately without changing the call setup. |
| 4. Save or translate | Pro can keep session transcripts, translate supported captions, export text, and turn speech into Voice Notes. | Use the output for personal follow-up notes when saving or exporting is appropriate. |
Useful when app captions are not enough.
Messy meeting audio
Use captions when speakers talk quickly, microphones are uneven, or you want a private text layer beside the call.
Videos without good subtitles
Caption lessons, tutorials, webinars, demos, and browser audio when built-in subtitles are missing or hard to use.
Second-language listening
Use captions and translation as a safety net for accents, technical terms, noisy audio, or rapid speech.
More Mac caption guides
| Guide | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Real-time subtitles on Mac | You want a broader setup guide for subtitles and live caption options. |
| Hearing accessibility captions | You want private captions for calls, classes, videos, and everyday listening. |
| Caption Zoom calls on Mac | You want Zoom caption options without adding a meeting bot. |
| Caption Google Meet calls on Mac | You want captions that do not depend on the Meet host enabling them. |
| Caption Microsoft Teams calls on Mac | You need private captions for Teams meetings, webinars, or training. |
| NotchLive vs Apple Live Captions | You want to compare built-in captions with a separate Mac caption layer. |
| Otter AI alternative for Mac | You want live captions and AI meeting notes without adding a bot to the call. |
| Granola AI alternative for Mac | You want captions during the meeting, local speech recognition, and one-time pricing. |
| How on-device Whisper speech recognition works | You want the technical background behind Whisper captions on Mac. |
| Live translation for Mac audio | You need translated captions for calls, videos, or microphone speech. |
Frequently asked questions
Does Mac have built-in live captions?
Apple provides Live Captions on supported Macs and macOS versions. They are useful, but coverage can depend on language, region, macOS support, and audio context. NotchLive is built as a separate Mac caption layer for calls, videos, browser audio, and microphone speech.
Can NotchLive caption audio from Mac apps?
NotchLive captions spoken system audio, microphone audio, or both. It can work with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, browsers, media players, and other Mac apps that output supported speech.
Can Whisper generate live captions on Mac?
Yes. NotchLive uses on-device Whisper speech recognition to generate live captions after you download a speech model. Audio does not need to be uploaded to a NotchLive cloud transcription service.
Can I caption Zoom, Meet, and Teams without enabling their captions?
Yes. NotchLive captions the audio available to your Mac, so it does not depend on the meeting host enabling captions in Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams.
Does NotchLive join my meeting?
No. NotchLive runs on your Mac and captions the audio you choose. It does not join calls as a meeting bot.
Can NotchLive caption videos and browser audio?
Yes. NotchLive can be used for browser audio, videos, webinars, lectures, podcasts, and other Mac audio sources.
Does NotchLive translate captions?
NotchLive Pro supports live translation where macOS and language support are available.
Is NotchLive free?
NotchLive includes free live captions. Pro is a one-time purchase for translation, saved sessions, exports, voice notes, and Meeting Intelligence.
Try private live captions on your Mac.
Start with free live captions. Upgrade once if you need translation, saved transcripts, Voice Notes, export, and Meeting Intelligence.