Status Indicators

Yapper uses a floating overlay to show you what’s happening at each stage of transcription. This reference explains every status indicator you might see.

The Recording Overlay

When you start recording, a small floating indicator appears near your cursor (or at the top-center of your screen if Fixed Position is enabled). The overlay uses a frosted-glass design that adapts to your system’s light or dark mode.

The overlay shows:

• Status color — The current state
• Icon or animation — Visual feedback for the current action
• Expanded card — For AI Transform results and Q&A answers

The overlay stays visible throughout recording and processing, then disappears a few seconds after completion.

Status States

Recording (Red)

Appearance: Red background with animated waveform

Meaning: Yapper is actively listening to your voice

What to do: Speak naturally. The waveform animation confirms audio is being captured.

Tips:

• If the waveform is flat (not moving), check your microphone in Settings → Preferences
• If a secondary language is active, a flag emoji appears indicating the current transcription language

Processing (Blue)

Appearance: Blue background with spinning indicator

Meaning: Your speech is being converted to text by the on-device AI model

What to do: Wait for processing to complete

Notes:

• Processing happens entirely on your Mac
• No internet required
• Parakeet models process at 110-190x real-time speed, so this is usually near-instant

AI Transform (Purple)

Appearance: Purple background with sparkle icon, expanding to show a result card

Meaning: The AI is rewriting your selected text based on your voice instruction

What to do: Wait for the transform to complete — the result streams in live

Notes:

• Only appears when you had text selected before recording
• The overlay expands to show the AI’s rewritten text in a Markdown-formatted card
• Requires internet connection
• The result replaces your original selected text

AI Q&A (Purple)

Appearance: Purple background with sparkle icon, expanding to show an answer card

Meaning: The AI is answering your “Hey Yapper” question

What to do: Read the answer in the floating panel

Notes:

• Only appears when your transcription started with “Hey Yapper”
• The answer streams in live with full Markdown formatting (headings, code blocks, lists)
• The answer is displayed only — it is not typed into any application
• The panel auto-scrolls to follow the streaming response

Success (Green)

Appearance: Green background with checkmark icon

Meaning: Operation complete

What to do: Your text should now appear in the active text field (for dictation and AI Transform)

Duration: Visible for about 2 seconds before fading

Error (Red)

Appearance: Red background with warning icon and error message

Meaning: Something went wrong

What to do: Read the error message and take appropriate action

Duration: Visible for about 3 seconds

Common error messages:

• “Microphone permission required”
• “Accessibility permission required”
• “Model not loaded”
• “No speech detected”
• “Transcription failed”
• API-related errors (invalid key, rate limited, network error)

Status Flows

Normal Dictation

[Red] Recording → [Blue] Processing → [Green] Success
                                   ↘ [Red] Error

AI Transform (text selected before recording)

[Red] Recording → [Blue] Processing → [Purple] AI Transform → [Green] Success
                         ↘ [Red] Error            ↘ [Red] Error

AI Q&A (“Hey Yapper” detected)

[Red] Recording → [Blue] Processing → [Purple] AI Q&A → [Green] Success
                         ↘ [Red] Error         ↘ [Red] Error

Streaming Transcription (Whisper only)

[Red] Recording (text appears word-by-word) → [Green] Success

Status Color Quick Reference

Color	State	Text Leaves Mac?	Internet Required?
Red (animated)	Recording	No	No
Blue	Processing	No	No
Purple	AI Transform / Q&A	Text sent to AI provider	Yes
Green	Success	—	—
Red (static)	Error	—	—

Error Messages Reference

Permission Errors

Message	Cause	Solution
”Microphone permission required”	Microphone access not granted	Grant permission
”Accessibility permission required”	Accessibility access not granted	Grant permission

Model Errors

Message	Cause	Solution
”Model not loaded”	Speech model isn’t ready	Wait for model to load, or select a different model
”Model failed to load”	Model couldn’t be loaded	Try a smaller model, restart Yapper

Recording Errors

Message	Cause	Solution
”No speech detected”	Recording captured silence	Speak louder, check microphone
”Recording failed”	Audio capture error	Check microphone, restart Yapper
”Transcription failed”	Processing error	Try again, try different model

AI Errors

Message	Cause	Solution
”Invalid API key”	API key incorrect or expired	Get new key from provider
”Rate limited”	Too many requests	Wait a few minutes
”API error”	Provider issue	Check provider status, try later
”Network error”	No internet connection	Check connection

Overlay Behavior

Position

The overlay appears near your cursor when you start recording. Enable Fixed Position in Settings → Preferences to pin it to the top-center of your screen.

Expanded Cards

For AI Transform and Q&A, the overlay expands from a small pill into a larger card showing the AI’s response. The card features:

• Formatted Markdown rendering
• Auto-scrolling during streaming
• Frosted-glass background that adapts to light/dark mode

Focus

The overlay never steals focus from your current application. You can continue to see which app/field is active while recording.

Accessibility

The overlay uses color plus icons to convey status:

• Red + waveform = Recording
• Blue + spinner = Processing
• Purple + sparkle = AI working (Transform or Q&A)
• Green + checkmark = Success
• Red + warning = Error

Even if you have difficulty distinguishing colors, the icons provide additional context.

Troubleshooting Overlay Issues

Overlay Not Appearing

1. Verify Yapper is receiving the shortcut (check menu bar icon)
2. Move cursor to screen center and try again
3. Restart Yapper

Overlay Stuck

1. Press Escape to cancel
2. If that doesn’t work, quit and reopen Yapper
3. Check model status in Settings

Overlay in Wrong Position

1. Position cursor where you want the overlay before pressing the shortcut
2. Enable Fixed Position in Settings → Preferences to pin to top-center

Related Topics

• Live Speech-to-Text — How recording works
• AI Features — AI Transform and Q&A overview
• Recording Issues — Troubleshoot problems