# What Speech Models Does FluidVoice Support? A Complete Technical Guide

> Explore FluidVoice's comprehensive speech model support. Discover 15 models across FluidAudio, Apple Native, and Whisper families for advanced ASR.

- Repository: [ALTIC/FluidVoice](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice)
- Tags: deep-dive
- Published: 2026-08-14

---

**FluidVoice supports 15 distinct speech recognition models across three families: FluidAudio (8 Apple Silicon-optimized models), Apple Native (2 built-in ASR engines), and Whisper (6 universal OpenAI models), all unified in the `SpeechModel` enum defined in [`Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift).**

The FluidVoice open-source macOS dictation app provides flexible speech-to-text through a single enumeratio that abstracts model selection, metadata, and backend routing. This unified architecture lets users choose from lightweight on-device models to large multilingual systems without code changes.

## FluidAudio Models: Apple Silicon-Optimized ASR

The **FluidAudio** family delivers high-performance speech recognition optimized for Apple Silicon, with model sizes ranging from ~428 MB to ~2 GB.

| Model | Identifier | Languages | Size | Source Link |
|-------|-----------|-----------|------|-------------|
| Parakeet TDT | `parakeetTDT` | 25 languages | ~460.9 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L76`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L76) |
| Parakeet TDT v2 | `parakeetTDTv2` | English only | ~442.9 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L77`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L77) |
| Parakeet Flash (Beta) | `parakeetRealtime` | English only | ~428.4 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L78`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L78) |
| Qwen3 ASR (Beta) | `qwen3Asr` | 30 languages | ~2.0 GB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L79`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L79) |
| Cohere Transcribe | `cohereTranscribeSixBit` | 14 languages | ~1.54 GB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L80`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L80) |
| Nemotron 3.5 Offline | `nemotronOffline` | ~40 languages | ~530.8 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L81`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L81) |
| Nemotron 3.5 Streaming | `nemotronStreaming` | ~40 languages | ~668.2 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L82`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L82) |
| Nemotron 3.5 Streaming (320 kbps) | `nemotronStreaming320` | ~40 languages | ~668.2 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L83`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L83) |

These models require Apple Silicon and are downloaded on-demand. The **Qwen3 ASR** and **Cohere Transcribe** models provide the broadest multilingual coverage but at significantly larger storage costs.

## Apple Native Models: Built-In System ASR

For users prioritizing zero download overhead, FluidVoice exposes Apple's native speech engines:

- **`appleSpeech`** — Legacy Apple ASR with system language support ([`SettingsStore.swift#L87`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L87))
- **`appleSpeechAnalyzer`** — Modern Apple Speech framework (macOS 26+) with support for English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Chinese ([`SettingsStore.swift#L88`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L88))

Both models use the system's built-in speech recognition with no additional downloads.

## Whisper Models: Universal Cross-Platform ASR

The **Whisper** family from OpenAI provides consistent performance across all Mac hardware, including Intel-based systems. All Whisper models support **99 languages**.

| Model | Identifier | Size | Source Link |
|-------|-----------|------|-------------|
| Whisper Tiny | `whisperTiny` | ~43.9 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L92`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L92) |
| Whisper Base | `whisperBase` | ~81.0 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L93`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L93) |
| Whisper Small | `whisperSmall` | ~257.3 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L94`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L94) |
| Whisper Medium | `whisperMedium` | ~793.0 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L95`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L95) |
| Whisper Large Turbo | `whisperLargeTurbo` | ~845.3 MB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L96`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L96) |
| Whisper Large | `whisperLarge` | ~1.55 GB | [`SettingsStore.swift#L97`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L97) |

## How to Enumerate and Select Speech Models

The `SpeechModel` enum conforms to `CaseIterable` and provides computed properties for UI display. Here's how to work with supported models programmatically:

```swift
import Fluid

// Retrieve all 15 supported speech models
let allModels = SettingsStore.SpeechModel.allCases

// Inspect model metadata
for model in allModels {
    print("\(model.displayName) — \(model.languageSupport) — \(model.downloadSize)")
}

// Select a specific model for transcription
SettingsStore.shared.selectedSpeechModel = .whisperLargeTurbo

// Start dictation with the configured model
DictationService.shared.startDictation(
    using: SettingsStore.shared.selectedSpeechModel
)

```

The enum exposes properties like `displayName`, `languageSupport`, and `downloadSize` that [`RewriteModeView.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/RewriteModeView.swift) and [`CommandModeView.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/CommandModeView.swift) use to render the model selector without hardcoded strings.

## Model Selection Architecture

FluidVoice's model abstraction lives in three key locations:

- **[`Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift)** — Central enum definition and persistence logic
- **[`Sources/Fluid/Views/RewriteModeView.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Views/RewriteModeView.swift)** — UI for model selection during text rewriting
- **[`Sources/Fluid/Views/CommandModeView.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Views/CommandModeView.swift)** — UI for model selection in command mode

The `DictationService` receives the selected `SpeechModel` value and routes audio to the appropriate inference backend—Core ML for FluidAudio models, `SFSpeechRecognizer` for Apple Native, or llama.cpp/whisper.cpp for Whisper variants.

## Summary

- **15 total models** in three families: FluidAudio (8), Apple Native (2), Whisper (6)
- **Unified `SpeechModel` enum** in [`SettingsStore.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/SettingsStore.swift) with source-defined links at lines 76–97
- **Smallest model**: Whisper Tiny at ~43.9 MB [`L92`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L92)
- **Largest model**: Qwen3 ASR at ~2.0 GB [`L79`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L79)
- **Widest language support**: Whisper models with 99 languages; Nemotron with ~40 languages
- **Zero-download options**: `appleSpeech` and `appleSpeechAnalyzer` use system frameworks

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Does FluidVoice support Intel Macs?

Yes, but with limitations. The **Whisper family** (6 models) and **Apple Native** models work on both Intel and Apple Silicon. The **FluidAudio family** (8 models) requires Apple Silicon and optimized Core ML pipelines. Intel Mac users should select `.whisperLargeTurbo` or `.whisperMedium` for best quality.

### How do I change the default speech model in FluidVoice?

Set `SettingsStore.shared.selectedSpeechModel` to any `SpeechModel` case before starting dictation. The value persists across app launches via `@AppStorage` or equivalent persistence in [`SettingsStore.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/SettingsStore.swift). The UI in [`RewriteModeView.swift`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/RewriteModeView.swift) provides a dropdown with human-readable names from the `displayName` property.

### Which speech model has the best accuracy for English transcription?

For English-specific use cases with Apple Silicon, **Parakeet TDT v2** [`L77`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L77) offers optimized performance at ~442.9 MB. For universal deployment, **Whisper Large** [`L97`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L97) or **Whisper Large Turbo** [`L96`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L96) provide state-of-the-art accuracy at the cost of ~1.55 GB or ~845 MB respectively. The **Nemotron Streaming** models [`L82-L83`](https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice/blob/main/Sources/Fluid/Persistence/SettingsStore.swift#L82) balance ~40-language support with reasonable size.