Arc Forge Labs Docs v2026.10.2
Dictate

Microsoft Store Listing Draft

This draft captures public Microsoft Store listing copy and certification notes for Dictate. Keep claims conservative and aligned with the current app behavior.

Product Identity

  • Preferred Store name: Arc Forge Dictate
  • Fallback Store name: Dictate by Arc Forge
  • Publisher: Arc Forge Labs
  • Product type: MSIX or PWA app
  • Store ID / product ID: 9P5S7747V0BP
  • Package identity name: ArcForgeLabs.ArcForgeDictate
  • Package identity publisher: CN=56989B1A-E9FD-45E0-827B-FDB65D3C9B3C
  • Publisher display name: Arc Forge Labs
  • Package family name: ArcForgeLabs.ArcForgeDictate_tbf7er950vsxw
  • Package SID: S-1-15-2-414942928-860362531-3808921871-2325232450-2546095560-3460849545-2812936032
  • Category: Productivity
  • Pricing: Free. No in-app purchases, no subscription, no account.
  • Discoverability: Managed in Partner Center
  • Primary package path: Microsoft Store submission, with GitHub installer artifacts kept internal until signed.
  • Store MSIX builder: scripts/build-windows-msix-store.ps1
  • Store MSIX workflow: .github/workflows/windows-msix-store-bundle.yml

Required URLs

  • Website: https://arcforge.au
  • Support URL: https://github.com/arcforgelabs/dictate/issues
  • Terms URL: https://arcforge.au/terms/dictate (source: dictate-terms.md). Until that page exists, use https://arcforge.au/terms.
  • Privacy policy URL: https://arcforge.au/privacy/dictate

Privacy policy status:

  • The dedicated Dictate privacy page must match dictate-privacy-policy.md. As of 2026-09-26 the live page still describes Dictate Pro, hosted processing and API keys, which no longer exist; it is being replaced.

Short Description

Hold a key, speak, and your words are typed into the app you are using. Runs entirely on your PC.

Description

Dictate is voice typing for Windows that runs entirely on your PC. Hold Right Ctrl, or click the microphone, speak, and let go: your words are typed into whatever app you are already using, whether that is an email, a document, a chat or a form.

Transcription happens on your own machine. Dictate uses the Parakeet speech model, which ships with the app, so there is nothing to download or set up. There is no account, no subscription, no API key and no cloud service. Your audio and your text never leave your computer.

Recent dictations are kept on your PC so you can find, copy or export anything you said, even if it did not land where you expected.

Dictate is free and open source under the MIT licence.

Product Features

  • Hold Right Ctrl to talk, release to type
  • Types into the app you are already using
  • Speech recognition runs entirely on your PC (Parakeet)
  • Works offline; no account, subscription or API key
  • Recent dictations list with search, copy and Markdown export
  • Copy last dictation, in case it did not land where you expected
  • Free and open source (MIT)

Release Notes

  • Fully local: accounts, subscriptions and online transcription are gone. Everything runs on your PC.
  • The Parakeet speech model is built in, so dictation works straight after install.
  • A new, simpler window: click or hold Right Ctrl to dictate, with your recent dictations one click away.
  • Starts even with no microphone connected, and tells you when one is needed.

Keywords

Microsoft Store MSI/EXE keywords are limited to 7 terms and 21 unique words.

  • dictation
  • speech to text
  • transcription
  • voice typing
  • productivity
  • push to talk
  • offline

Copyright (c) Arc Forge Labs. Dictate and Arc Forge are trademarks or trade names of Arc Forge Labs where applicable.

License Terms

Use the repository license for open-source package terms:

  • LICENSE

Dictate is free, local-only software under the MIT license. The Dictate terms page (dictate-terms.md) restates that in plain language; there are no subscription or purchase terms because there is nothing to buy.

Store Assets

Available icons:

  • assets/dictate.png
  • assets/dictate.ico
  • assets/dictate-listening.png
  • assets/dictate-listening.ico
  • ui-shell/src-tauri/icons/icon.png
  • ui-shell/src-tauri/icons/icon.ico

Prepared Store logo upload artifacts:

  • docs/msstore/assets/logos/dictate-store-logo-300.png
  • docs/msstore/assets/logos/dictate-store-logo-1080.png
  • docs/msstore/assets/logos/dictate-store-logo-150.png
  • docs/msstore/assets/logos/dictate-store-logo-71.png
  • docs/msstore/assets/logos/dictate-store-logo-512.png
  • docs/msstore/assets/logos/dictate-store-logo-600.png
  • docs/msstore/assets/logos/dictate-store-logo-1240.png

The Store shows the logos inside the package when no listing logos are uploaded. Packages from 2026.9.2503.0 carry the current Dictate mark, which replaced the old black microphone on the listing.

Required before submission:

  • 1:1 Store logo / box art
  • At least one desktop screenshot
  • Prefer four or more screenshots before public launch

Current Partner Center state changes over time. Check Partner Center or .github/workflows/msstore-publish-msix.yml in mode=status for live status; do not rely on committed docs for transient submission state.

Screenshots (see msstore/assets/screenshots/README.md):

  1. docs/msstore/assets/screenshots/dictate-01-ready.png
  2. docs/msstore/assets/screenshots/dictate-02-recording.png
  3. docs/msstore/assets/screenshots/dictate-03-dictations.png
  4. docs/msstore/assets/screenshots/dictate-04-about.png

Do not include real dictated user text in screenshots.

Privacy And Data Handling Disclosure

Use this wording as the basis for Partner Center privacy/certification answers:

  • Dictate uses the microphone only while the user is dictating (holding the push-to-talk key or after clicking the microphone).
  • Speech is transcribed on the device by the bundled Parakeet model. Audio and text are never sent anywhere; there is no hosted transcription path.
  • There is no account, no sign-in, no API key, no analytics and no crash reporting. Telemetry in bundled third-party libraries (ONNX Runtime's Microsoft telemetry, Hugging Face Hub) is switched off.
  • Dictate stores its settings, logs and a recent dictation history on the device only. Logs do not contain dictated text. Users can export or delete their data, and remove it by uninstalling.
  • Network access: the Store build ships its models and is updated by the Store, so it makes no update-check or model-download requests of its own. Builds outside the Store check GitHub (and, on the beta channel, the npm registry) for updates, and source installs download models from Hugging Face.

Age Rating Notes

Dictate is a productivity utility and does not intentionally include mature, violent, sexual, gambling, or user-generated public content. It can transcribe whatever the user says, so certification answers should distinguish app content from user-created dictation content.

Recommended age-rating stance:

  • Not directed at children under 13.
  • No in-app purchases.
  • No advertising.
  • No social network or public content sharing features.
  • No location access.
  • Microphone access is core functionality.

Certification Notes

Suggested Partner Center certification note:

Dictate is a desktop dictation utility. It uses the microphone only while the
user dictates (push-to-talk or the microphone button). Speech is transcribed on
the device by the bundled Parakeet model; audio and text are never sent off the
device. There is no account, sign-in, API key, in-app purchase, analytics or
crash reporting. Dictate stores its settings, logs and a recent dictation
history locally for copy and recovery.

Submission Checklist

  • Cut a release and let windows-release-gate.yml pass for it.
  • msstore-publish-msix.yml mode=draft: builds the MSIX from master and uploads it; it refuses without a passing gate for that version.
  • Apply this file's short description, description, features, release notes and the four screenshots to the draft (see "Updating the listing" in msstore-automation.md).
  • Review the draft in Partner Center, then mode=publish.
  • Never start a submission by hand in Partner Center; the API cannot touch it.
  • Keep Microsoft Store delivery stable-only.

Source References

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