Yapper Yapper / Help Center

Permission Issues

Troubleshoot microphone and accessibility permission problems

Yapper needs Microphone and Accessibility permissions to function. If you’re having trouble with permissions, this guide will help you resolve the issue.

Quick Diagnosis

Open Yapper Settings → Preferences and check the Permissions section:

StatusMeaningAction
Green checkmarkWorking correctlyNo action needed
Orange warningPermission not grantedFollow the steps below

Microphone Permission Issues

”Microphone permission required” Error

This means Yapper can’t access your microphone.

Solution:

  1. Open System Settings
  2. Go to Privacy & Security → Microphone
  3. Find Yapper in the list
  4. Turn on the toggle next to it

If Yapper isn’t in the list:

  • Try recording once in Yapper—this triggers the permission prompt
  • If no prompt appears, add Yapper manually using the + button

Microphone Toggle Is Already On

If the permission is enabled but Yapper still reports an error:

  1. Turn the Yapper toggle off
  2. Wait a few seconds
  3. Turn it back on
  4. Quit and reopen Yapper

No Microphone Permission Prompt

If macOS never showed the permission dialog:

  1. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone
  2. Remove Yapper from the list (select it and click -)
  3. Re-add Yapper using the + button
  4. Try recording again

Multiple Audio Input Devices

If you have multiple microphones:

  1. Open System Settings → Sound → Input
  2. Select your preferred microphone
  3. Verify the input level meter moves when you speak
  4. Test recording in Yapper

Accessibility Permission Issues

”Accessibility permission required” Error

This means Yapper can’t type text into applications.

Solution:

  1. Open System Settings
  2. Go to Privacy & Security → Accessibility
  3. Click the lock icon and enter your password
  4. Find Yapper in the list
  5. Turn on the toggle

Yapper Not in Accessibility List

If Yapper doesn’t appear:

  1. Click the + button below the app list
  2. Navigate to Applications
  3. Select Yapper
  4. Click Open
  5. Turn on the toggle

Toggle Keeps Turning Off

If the accessibility toggle won’t stay enabled:

  1. Remove Yapper from the list (select and click -)
  2. Quit Yapper completely (menu bar → Quit Yapper)
  3. Reopen Yapper
  4. Add it back to the Accessibility list
  5. Turn on the toggle

Toggle Is Greyed Out

If you can’t change the toggle:

  1. Look for a lock icon at the bottom of System Settings
  2. Click the lock
  3. Enter your administrator password
  4. Now you can change the toggle

”Yapper wants to control” Dialog Keeps Appearing

If you keep seeing system dialogs asking about Yapper:

  1. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility
  2. Remove Yapper
  3. Re-add it and enable the toggle
  4. If the dialog appears again, click OK or Allow

Permissions Work, But Recording Doesn’t

If permissions show green checkmarks but recording still fails:

Check the Model Status

  1. Go to Settings → Transcription
  2. Verify a model is selected and loaded
  3. If no model is loaded, wait for it to download and load

Test Your Microphone

  1. Open QuickTime Player
  2. Select File → New Audio Recording
  3. Speak and verify the level meter responds
  4. If it doesn’t, the issue is with your microphone setup, not Yapper

Restart Yapper

  1. Click the Yapper menu bar icon
  2. Select Quit Yapper
  3. Reopen Yapper from Applications
  4. Try recording again

Restart Your Mac

Some permission changes require a system restart:

  1. Save your work
  2. Apple menu → Restart
  3. Open Yapper and try again

Corporate/Managed Macs

If your Mac is managed by an organization (MDM):

  • Your IT department may restrict which apps can access Microphone/Accessibility
  • Contact your IT support to whitelist Yapper
  • Some MDM profiles prevent adding apps to Accessibility settings

Terminal Commands (Advanced)

For advanced users, you can reset permissions using Terminal:

Reset Microphone permission:

tccutil reset Microphone

Reset Accessibility permission:

tccutil reset Accessibility

After running these, you’ll need to re-grant permissions to all apps that need them.

Still Having Issues?

If you’ve tried everything above:

  1. Check for macOS updates (some permission bugs are fixed in updates)
  2. Try creating a new macOS user account and testing there
  3. Contact us at hello@yapper.to with:
    • Your macOS version
    • Screenshots of your permission settings
    • Description of what happens when you try to use Yapper