Pill and overlay
The floating dictation pill sits over your other apps and shows whether Kalam is idle, listening, recording, processing, or finished. The Dictation pill settings page lets you preview every state, pick a waveform style, choose idle behavior, and place the pill on screen. The pill is the visible face of Kalam’s always-on overlay window.
What you see on the pill
The overlay window hosts the pill. Between sessions it collapses to a small idle mark (or hides, depending on settings). While you dictate it expands to a compact strip.
States
| State (settings preview label) | What you see |
|---|---|
| Idle | Colored mode swatch in a dark shell. Click to pin controls: mode name, optional copy of last transcription, feature summary (Polish · Context · Auto-activate), and collapse. |
| Listening | Brief Listening… (or a lock label in a sensitive app — Local only / Context blocked). |
| Recording | Live waveform, mode name (or Edit / Edit ✂ for voice edit), elapsed timer, and Stop recording. Press Escape to cancel. |
| Processing | Spinner and status text (often Transcribing…, later Improving… / Inserting with context…), elapsed seconds after a couple of seconds, and Cancel. |
| Success | Checkmark and a short “Inserted…” message; click to copy the transcription. Returns to idle after a moment. |
| Error | Plain-language error with Retry and Dismiss (auto-clears after several seconds if you ignore it). |
Other brief messages you may see:
| Situation | Pill copy |
|---|---|
| Hold was too short | Hold longer to dictate |
| Text could not inject into the field | Copied — press Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on Mac) with Paste / Dismiss |
| Cancelling | Cancelling… |
| Auto-switch | Accent flash / status like Switch to … or Restored to … on the idle mark |
Right-click the idle pill for Start dictation, Switch mode…, Copy last transcription, and Customize pill (opens this settings page).
How the pill relates to the overlay
- The overlay is a small always-on-top window; the pill is the chrome inside it.
- Placement and idle visibility are window-level settings — they move or hide the whole overlay, not a separate widget.
- When idle behavior is Hidden or Hidden + peek, the overlay window itself can hide until you dictate (or until a status peek flashes).
- Multi-monitor placement can differ slightly from the in-app preview (“Approximate preview…”).
Sensitive apps can force local-only or block context — see Sensitive apps.
Dictation pill settings page
Open Dictation pill from the sidebar (or Customize pill on the overlay). Subtitle: Preview, appearance, and placement of your floating dictation control. Changes save automatically.
Preview & appearance
| Control | Options |
|---|---|
| Live preview | Mock screen that mirrors your anchor and offset |
| State chips | Idle, Recording, Processing, Success, Error |
| Waveform | Aurora, Hairline, Bars (waveform shows in Recording; picking a style jumps the preview there) |
When idle
Section title: When idle — “What you see between dictation sessions.”
| Preset | Label | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Visible | Visible dot | Small dot stays on screen |
| Hidden | Hidden | Nothing shown until you dictate |
| Peek | Hidden + peek | Hidden, but flashes on status changes |
Older installs may have stored a “faded” idle style. The settings UI maps that to the Visible dot preset.
Screen position
Section title: Screen position — “Where the pill anchors on your display.”
- Pick a cell on the 3×3 grid: Top left, Top center, Top right, Center left, Center, Center right, Bottom left, Bottom center, Bottom right.
- On the active cell, open Fine-tune.
- Drag the pad (or use arrow keys) to offset horizontally and vertically in 5 px steps (±100 px). Use Reset to clear offsets, or Back to placement to return to the grid.
The pill grows away from the nearest screen edge so it does not clip off-screen.
Common tasks
Change where the pill sits
- Open Dictation pill.
- Under Screen position, click the grid cell you want.
- Optionally click Fine-tune, nudge the pad, then leave the page — settings save on their own.
Hide the pill when you are not dictating
- Open Dictation pill.
- Under When idle, choose Hidden or Hidden + peek.
- Confirm the preview shows the hidden note (preview jumps to Idle).
Pick a recording waveform
- Open Dictation pill.
- Under Waveform, choose Aurora, Hairline, or Bars.
- Use the Recording state chip to watch the live preview.
Preview success or error chrome
- Open Dictation pill.
- Click Success or Error in the State row.
- Adjust placement/idle settings if needed while you watch the mock screen.
Open pill settings from the overlay
- When the pill is idle, right-click it.
- Choose Customize pill.
- The main window focuses on Dictation pill.
Plan gates
Pill placement, idle presets, waveform style, and the live preview are available on all plans. No PRO lock on this page.
Dictation features the pill reports (polish, context, auto-activate) still follow your plan on the Dictation page.