Changelog
Every LotusQ desktop release since 2.0, newest first.
LotusQ 2.13.1
Highlights
A small update that makes Copy work again, stops the LotusQ pill taking your keyboard on Mac, and adds small reliability fixes for dictation.
- The Copy button in History copies your dictation again and shows "Copied".
- On Mac, clicking or holding the LotusQ pill no longer takes the keyboard away from the app you're typing in.
- Small reliability fixes for dictation.
What's fixed
- Copy in History works again. The Copy button next to a dictation in History silently copied nothing. It now copies the dictation and shows "Copied" beside the button.
- Copying your invite link tells you if it didn't work. In Settings › Referrals, the Copy button for your invite link now says "Copied" only when the link was actually copied. If it wasn't, LotusQ shows an error so you can select the link and copy it yourself.
- The pill no longer takes your keyboard on Mac. On Mac, clicking or holding the LotusQ pill no longer takes the keyboard away from the app you're typing in, so what you type next lands where you expect.
- Small reliability fixes for dictation.
LotusQ 2.13.0
Highlights
Pasting is faster on Mac, and Slack keeps the space between your sentences.
- On a Mac, LotusQ's fast paste no longer drops to the slower way of typing for the rest of the session after a slow start.
- In Slack, a new dictation after a finished sentence starts with a space again instead of running into it.
What's new
- Faster pasting on Mac. LotusQ pastes your dictation through a small helper that is much faster than the standard way of typing into other apps. If the helper was slow to start, for example just after you logged in, LotusQ used to give up on it and fall back to the slower way until you restarted LotusQ. Now LotusQ waits for the helper to be ready and, if it stops, starts it again, so pasting stays fast.
- Slack keeps the space between sentences. Slack removes the space at the end of what you typed, so a new dictation landed right against the previous sentence ("…the store.And then…"). In Slack, LotusQ now looks at the character just before your cursor. After a letter or punctuation mark it adds one space; after a space, at the start of a line or in an empty message box it adds none. If LotusQ can't tell quickly, your dictation is typed exactly as in 2.12.0. Every other app works as in 2.12.0.
- Your languages sync with your account. The languages you dictate in, and your Translate languages, follow your account. Change them on one computer and your other computers pick up the change the next time they open LotusQ, sign in or come back to the LotusQ window. If both computers changed them, the most recent change wins.
What's fixed
- LotusQ works on a new Windows PC. On a Windows PC that didn't have it yet, the installer now adds the Microsoft component LotusQ needs to type into other apps and detect speech (the Microsoft Visual C++ runtime). Windows may ask for your permission while it's added, and may ask you to restart your PC to finish. If the component still can't be loaded, LotusQ still installs and shows a notice telling you where to get it from Microsoft.
- Holding Space after your shortcut. If your dictation shortcut uses Space (for example Ctrl+Space) and you let go of Ctrl while still holding Space, the spaces that types are now treated as your own typing, not as part of the shortcut.
- Auto-learn turns on once you're back online. If LotusQ started without an internet connection, for example at login before Wi-Fi connected, auto-learn stayed off until you restarted LotusQ. Now LotusQ checks again as you dictate, at most once a minute, and turns it on by itself once the connection is back.
LotusQ 2.12.0
Highlights
Setup for new accounts gains two quick, optional questions and an optional Translate step.
- Setup now asks two optional questions: how you heard about LotusQ, and what best describes you. One tap answers and moves on, and you can skip either one.
- After your first dictation, setup offers an optional Translate step, so you can set your Translate key and languages and try it straight away.
What's new
- Two optional questions in setup. After Let’s get set up, LotusQ asks "How did you hear about us?" and "What best describes you?". Each is a single list: one tap answers and moves on, and Skip this question skips it. Nothing is typed. A question you have already answered isn't asked again.
- About you in Settings. You can choose or change what best describes you in Settings › General › About you. It's used only to count which kinds of work LotusQ is used for. Once chosen, it can be changed but not cleared.
- Translate in setup. After your first dictation, setup offers an optional Translate step: choose your Translate key and up to three Translate languages, then Save and continue to try it. Hold your Translate key, say a sentence in any language, and release. LotusQ types it into the other app and tells you "Your translation was sent to the other app." Choose Not now to leave Translate off; you can set it up later in Settings.
- A Try Translate task on your Home checklist. The Getting started checklist on Home has a new last task, Try Translate. It's ticked the first time you hold your Translate key and speak.
What's fixed
- Compose Insert keeps your started reply in more of Safari's web editors on Mac. Insert pastes the reply at the cursor instead of replacing what you started in more cases where the text next to the cursor isn't plain text.
LotusQ 2.11.1
Highlights
A small update with one fix for Compose on Mac.
- Compose Insert no longer replaces your started reply in Safari's web editors on Mac when there's something other than text next to the cursor.
What's fixed
- Compose Insert no longer replaces your started reply in Safari's web editors on Mac. In a web page's editable area, when the text next to the cursor includes something other than text (an image, for example), or the cursor sits just before a final line break, Insert now pastes the reply at the cursor instead of replacing what you started. Nothing next to the cursor is removed, though you may need to delete your started greeting yourself.
LotusQ 2.11.0
Highlights
A small update: choose whether to get LotusQ product news by email, and a fix for dictations that start with "And".
- Choose whether to get LotusQ product news by email: an unticked box when you create an account, and a switch in Settings › Privacy › Email.
- A dictation that starts with "And", "But" or "So" no longer changes text you didn't dictate.
What's new
Product news by email
- An unticked box when you create an account. "Email me LotusQ product news" sits above both Create Account and Continue with Google. Leave it unticked and nothing changes.
- A switch in Settings. Settings › Privacy › Email › Product news by email turns product news on or off at any time. It works without a plan.
- Account emails aren't affected. Account emails, like password resets, still come either way. This setting only covers product news.
- Unsubscribe from any product news email, or turn it off in Settings.
- Your latest choice wins. If you change the Settings switch while a sign-up choice is still being saved, the Settings choice is kept.
Fixes
- A dictation starting with "And", "But" or "So" no longer changes text you didn't dictate. LotusQ used to join such a dictation onto whatever it had typed in the last 30 seconds, even if that text was gone or you'd moved to another window. In an empty field, "And if there is anything else, please let me know." could come out as ", and if there is anything else…", with characters before the cursor deleted. Now it starts a new sentence with a capital letter, and nothing is deleted.
LotusQ 2.10.0
Highlights
A feature update: Translate, a new key that types what you say in another language.
- Speak in any language, and LotusQ types it in the language you choose. Hold the Translate key, speak, let go.
- Pick up to 3 languages in Settings › Translate and switch with the Next Translate language key or the tray menu.
- Select text and tap the Translate key without speaking to translate it in place.
What's new
Translate
- A new key: Translate. Hold it, speak in any language, and let go: the translation is typed at your cursor, the same way dictation is. In hands-free mode, hold the Translate key while you speak.
- Set your keys first. The Translate and Next Translate language keys start as "Not set". Choose them in Settings › Translate, which suggests an available key when one exists. A key that overlaps another shortcut is refused, with "Choose another key."
- Up to 3 languages. Choose them in Settings › Translate, and drag to set the order the Next Translate language key cycles through. You can also switch from the tray's Translate language menu. While you hold the key, the overlay shows the language it will type in, and a quiet card afterwards shows what it heard.
- Any of 78 languages. English, Hindi, Kannada and Chinese (Simplified) are tested. The others are marked Beta.
- Translate selected text. Select text and tap the Translate key without speaking. The translation replaces your selection, up to 5,000 characters.
- In History. Translations appear in History with the language they went into. A spoken translation also shows what was heard. For a selection, only the translation is kept, never the text you selected.
- Not in password fields. Translate is off in password fields, as Compose is.
- Part of your trial or plan. Translate needs a trial or paid plan, like dictation and Compose.
Other changes
- Overlapping shortcuts are refused. Recording a shortcut that overlaps another action now shows an error such as "Ctrl + F1 overlaps Dictation (F1)". This applies in every Settings shortcut row and in the onboarding recorder. Shortcuts you already have aren't changed until you edit them.
- Two hold keys can no longer fire together. If two hold-to-talk shortcuts share modifier keys, only the first to fire starts. This also fixes the same overlap between Dictation and Compose.
- Totals no longer count Compose. When your totals are rebuilt from History, Compose results are no longer counted. A spoken translation counts the words you said; a translated selection doesn't count.
- The tray's Languages menu is now "Dictation language". It sets the language you dictate in, as before; the new Translate language menu follows it.
- Translate in the overlay's quick settings. Once you've chosen Translate languages, the overlay's quick settings show them under Language, and you can pick the active one there.
- A one-time "New: Translate" card on Home. If you've dictated and haven't set up Translate yet, Home shows a card that opens Settings › Translate. It goes away for good once you choose Set up Translate or Not now, or close it.
- Help has a Translate article, and the right language count. Help links to the new Translate article, and Languages & Multilingual now says 78 languages instead of "100+".
- "How Translate works" in Settings. A link at the end of Settings › Translate opens the Translate article. It works without a plan.
- The sign-up form's example names have changed.
- "Full release notes" opens the new LotusQ releases page.
LotusQ 2.9.0
Highlights
A feature update: reset your password from the app, and more control over History.
- Forgot your password? You can now ask for a reset link from the sign-in screen, then set a new password on lotusq.io.
- The ⋯ menu on each History entry now works: edit what LotusQ saved, or delete an entry, with Undo.
- Choose how long History is kept on this computer, clear it all in one step, and keep up to 10,000 entries instead of 100.
What's new
Forgot password
- "Forgot password?" on the sign-in screen. Next to the password label, a new link sends a reset email to the address you've entered. If the email box is empty, LotusQ asks for your address first. The email's link opens lotusq.io, where you set a new password. It works once and expires in 1 hour. You can ask for another email after 60 seconds.
- "Open LotusQ" from the website brings the app forward. After you set a new password on lotusq.io, the "Open LotusQ" button brings LotusQ to the front, including when it's hidden in the tray on a Mac, so you can sign in. The link only opens the app. It never signs you in or out, and nothing in the link is read.
For privacy, the reset screen says the same thing whether or not an account exists for the address. The only different messages are for when we can't send emails right now, or when your internet connection is down.
Edit or delete a History entry
- A menu on every entry. The ⋯ button on each entry in History now opens a menu with Edit and Delete. It works the same on dictations and Compose results.
- Delete, with Undo. A deleted entry disappears at once, and a "Deleted · Undo" bar gives you about 5 seconds to bring it back in the same place. Deleting an entry doesn't change your totals. If you switch accounts while the bar is showing, Undo goes away rather than acting on the other account.
- Edit LotusQ's saved copy. Edit fixes the text in place: Enter saves and Escape cancels. It changes only LotusQ's saved copy in History, not the text you already pasted, and LotusQ doesn't learn from it. Edited entries show a quiet "Edited" label. On a Compose entry, only the result can be edited.
- Easier to reach by keyboard. Each entry's Copy and ⋯ buttons can now be reached with Tab (before, they only appeared when you hovered), and the menu works entirely from the keyboard.
History privacy settings
- Choose how long History is kept. A new Privacy section in Settings has Keep history for: All history (the default), 1 year, 30 days or 1 day. Older entries are deleted automatically when LotusQ starts and about every hour while it runs. If you pick a shorter period, LotusQ first tells you how many entries it will delete and asks before deleting them.
- Clear all history. Clear everything from the new menu at the top of History (next to search), or from Settings › Privacy. LotusQ asks first and shows how many entries will be deleted. This can't be undone.
- History keeps up to 10,000 entries. Before, it quietly kept only the newest 100.
- You can always see what's kept. The end of the History list now says how long History is kept on this computer, with a Change link to the setting.
- Clearer wording. The search box now counts "entries", because it includes Compose results. The empty History screen no longer mentions sync: History stays on this computer.
Clearing or expiring History doesn't change your totals, and it only affects the account you're signed in to on this computer.
LotusQ 2.8.2
Highlights
A small bug-fix update that tidies up two settings.
- The "Use window titles to pick a better style" switch now lives in Settings → Behaviour, shows at its full size, and has a shorter description.
- Turbo mode's description now says what it does: it skips AI formatting for the fastest result, while basic cleanup still runs.
What's fixed
- The window-title switch has moved and no longer looks squashed. "Use window titles to pick a better style" is now in Settings → Behaviour instead of on the Smart styles page. It keeps its full size and has a shorter description. It works the same way as before and stays off unless you turn it on.
- The window-title switch is hidden on macOS. It had no effect on a Mac, so it no longer appears there.
- Turbo mode's description matches what it does. The setting now says it skips AI formatting for the fastest result. Basic cleanup still runs, and Smart styles only adjust punctuation and capitals.
LotusQ 2.8.1
Highlights
A small update with minor fixes, mostly to Smart styles — the feature that picks a writing style to match the app you're dictating into.
- Smart styles recognises more apps on Linux, including web apps installed as their own window, more browsers and help-desk tools.
- Turbo mode now does what it says: it skips AI formatting for the fastest result. Basic cleanup still runs, and Smart styles only adjust punctuation and capitals.
- A new setting, off unless you turn it on, can use window titles to pick a better style on Windows and Linux.
What's new
- Use window titles to pick a better style (Windows and Linux). A new setting under Smart styles, off unless you turn it on. When it's on and LotusQ doesn't recognise the app or website, it sends the title of the window you're dictating into to our server and a third-party AI model provider to pick a better style. Email addresses, web links, phone numbers and long numbers are removed first; other words, such as names or subjects, can remain. LotusQ doesn't keep it. The setting also appears on macOS but has no effect there yet.
What's fixed
- Smart styles recognises more apps on Linux. Web apps installed as their own window, such as Outlook, Teams and WhatsApp, now get the right style, as do the Brave, Edge and Zen browsers, Vesktop and Telegram. Help-desk tools such as Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom and Help Scout now use your email style (Formal unless you've changed it).
- Turbo mode now does what it says. With Turbo mode on, LotusQ skips AI formatting for the fastest result. Basic cleanup still runs, and Smart styles only adjust punctuation and capitals. Before, text could be formatted twice, which sometimes broke line breaks and lists. If you want AI formatting, turn Turbo mode off.
- Notepad is no longer treated as a code editor. Dictating into Notepad now gets the normal style, not the coding one.
- Better style detection for unfamiliar apps. When LotusQ doesn't recognise an app or website, it can now work out a sensible style for it (usually from your next dictation there) instead of always using the default.
LotusQ 2.8.0
Highlights
The dictation overlay is redesigned with smooth animations, Cards that tell you what's happening, and Try again for a failed take. Compose can now read what you've selected in your terminal or text editor, with no extra copy step.
- The dictation overlay now morphs smoothly between states instead of dissolving in and out, with new Cards that show errors, progress, and tips in context.
- Compose can now read text you've highlighted in a terminal or IDE, so "rewrite this" works on selected code, logs or terminal output.
- Try again appears on a dictation that failed for a reason worth retrying — you're offline, the request timed out, the server had an error, or you hit a rate limit.
What's new
- The dictation overlay is redesigned. The small pill that shows what dictation is doing now morphs between states instead of dissolving in and out. The new design feels smoother and clearer on every platform.
- Cards show you what's happening. Above the pill, Cards appear to tell you about errors, progress, tips, or things you might want to do. A failed transcription shows a Card with Try again. A successful dictation might show a correction suggestion. Cards close themselves on their own after a few seconds, or sooner if you dismiss them or start dictating again. A decision card — like a plan limit or a password notice — stays until you answer it.
- "Still working…" for long operations. If a transcription or formatting takes longer than 30 seconds, the overlay shows a calm "Still working…" pill and a 70-second backstop, instead of a silent give-up.
- Try again for a failed take. When a dictation fails with a reason worth retrying — you're offline, the request timed out, the server had an error, or you hit a rate limit — a Card appears with a Try again button. LotusQ keeps your audio for 15 seconds, so you can immediately retry the same take without re-recording. After 15 seconds, the button changes to Dictate again.
- Compose reads terminal selections. Compose can now read what you've selected in your terminal, IDE or text editor — no extra copy step needed. "Rewrite this" now works on highlighted code, logs or terminal output.
- Better error messages. Error cards tell you why something failed and what to do about it — for example, that your microphone access is off, that you're signed out, or why a dictation wasn't sent. Messages are plain and link to the settings or help where you need them.
- Keyboard and accessibility improvements. The overlay is now fully keyboard-navigable. Screen reader users can navigate Cards and use Try again or other buttons. Settings for high contrast and reduced motion work throughout. Focus is announced, and timers pause when you focus on or hover over a Card.
LotusQ 2.7.1
Highlights
A fix release for Mac: setup now checks that LotusQ can really hear your shortcut, and LotusQ tells you if a permission it needs is switched off.
- Setup no longer shows Input Monitoring as granted when macOS reports it is off, and asks you to press Recheck access to confirm before you continue.
- On a Mac, the shortcut step now has a required "press your shortcut" test, so a shortcut LotusQ can't hear is caught during setup instead of on your first dictation.
- LotusQ now keeps watching in the background: if macOS reports that Input Monitoring has turned off, a card on the dictation overlay links straight to System Settings, and LotusQ restarts its hotkey helper once you grant access.
What's new
- Setup no longer claims Input Monitoring is granted when it isn't. On some Macs, setup showed every permission as granted while push-to-talk did nothing, because the check only saw that LotusQ had asked for key presses, not that macOS had allowed it. Setup now asks macOS directly. Where macOS won't confirm Input Monitoring, it says so instead of showing "Granted", and leaves the final call to the shortcut test below.
- Recheck access before you continue. After you grant the permissions, setup asks you to press Recheck access. Continue stays off until that recheck passes.
- A required shortcut test on Mac. On the shortcut step, save your shortcut, press Test shortcut, then press and release it. Setup only lets you continue once LotusQ has heard the press. The test does not record audio. If nothing is heard, setup tells you what to check. On a MacBook, for example, the top-row keys such as F1 by default only reach LotusQ while you hold Fn.
- LotusQ keeps watching after setup. In the background, LotusQ periodically asks macOS whether the permissions it needs are still on. If Input Monitoring, Accessibility or Microphone access turns off, a card appears on the dictation overlay with an Open System Settings button. It appears once per problem, and again if the problem comes back. The card closes itself after about 30 seconds, or sooner if you start dictating. If you miss it, the Home page still shows "This device needs attention" while the problem remains.
- The hotkey helper restarts after you grant access. Previously, switching Input Monitoring on could leave push-to-talk dead until you relaunched LotusQ. LotusQ now restarts the helper itself once macOS reports access is on.
- What this can't see. These checks rely on what macOS reports. If macOS says access is on but key presses still aren't getting through, only the shortcut test in setup can catch that. The background watch can't.
LotusQ 2.7.0
Highlights
Compose signs emails with your name, uses your saved snippets, follows each app's style, and lets you switch a result to Formal, Casual or Fun.
- Compose (formerly Command Mode): hold a key, speak an instruction, and preview the result before anything is inserted.
- Step back through earlier results, ask for a different take, or a spoken rewrite — all from the same Preview panel.
- Compose can now read nearby on-screen text to help with a reply, and personalizes what it writes with your name, snippets, tone and each app's style.
What's new
- Command Mode is now Compose. Same key, same hold-and-speak gesture — just a new name that better fits what it does, including replying to a message.
- A Preview panel shows every result before it touches your document. Hold your Compose key and say what to write, or select text and say how to change it; nothing is ever typed in until you press Insert. You can also Copy the result or Close without inserting anything.
- Compose can decline requests it shouldn't fulfil — for example, being asked to fabricate a review — instead of making something up.
- Clearer problem messages. Being offline, hitting a usage limit, a slow or failed response, or a result that got cut off now shows a plain message with a Retry button, instead of hanging or showing a generic error.
- Usage limits are visible, not silent. Compose has a per-minute and a daily limit; as you get close to either, the panel shows a countdown so you know what's happening instead of just getting refused.
- Step back through earlier results. The Preview panel keeps your last few results with arrows and a counter, so you can compare versions instead of losing an earlier one.
- Regenerate for a different take, or say a follow-up instruction to have Compose rewrite the result you're looking at.
- Thumbs up or down on a result helps improve Compose, and each of your saved snippets now has a "Don't use in Compose" switch if you'd rather keep one private — that choice follows you to your other devices.
- Optional on-screen reading (macOS and Windows). Turn it on in Settings and Compose can glance at nearby on-screen text — for example, to write a reply that actually answers the message you're looking at. It's off by default, you can exclude specific apps, password managers are excluded automatically (banking apps too, on macOS), and it isn't available on Linux yet.
- Compose now personalizes what it writes:
- Signs off emails and letters with your name — your account name, a custom name you set, or no name at all if you clear it.
- Reuses your saved snippets by meaning, never one you've marked "Don't use in Compose."
- Matches the app you're writing in, following its own style and formatting (for example, writing an email in Gmail like an email, not like a browser text box).
- Offers three tone options — Formal, Casual or Fun — so you can switch a result's tone with one click.
- Keeps writing in whatever language your instruction and text already use, including a language you named earlier in the same panel.
LotusQ 2.0.2
Highlights
Automatic or manual updates, clearer trial messages, and more.
- Choose automatic or manual updates in Settings → System.
- New accounts get a 7-day free trial with no card needed.
- Clear messages, with a way forward, when LotusQ can't dictate for you.
What's new
- Update mode. Automatic, the default, downloads updates in the background and installs them when you quit. Manual tells you when a new version is out, with a notification, a tray item and a banner, and nothing downloads or installs until you click. The setting applies to this computer only.
- Check for updates works, and follows your mode.
- One update dialog shows what is in a new version, the download progress and a Restart to update button. A restart you ask for while dictating waits until you finish.
- What's new after updating. LotusQ shows "Updated to 2.0.2" with these highlights, even when you are offline.
- Windows installs updates silently and reopens LotusQ by itself.
- The AppImage keeps one file name,
LotusQ-x86_64.AppImage, across updates, so shortcuts and autostart entries keep working. - 7-day free trial, no card. New accounts start a trial at their first sign-in, with about 2 hours of dictation a day until a card is added.
- Clear refusal messages. When a trial ends, a plan is missing or the daily trial limit is reached, the overlay and the app say so and offer a way forward, instead of reporting that your text could not be inserted.
LotusQ 2.0.1
Highlights
A redesigned Settings window, one LotusQ address for everything the app sends to the cloud, and fixes for sign-up confirmation and Command Mode on Linux.
What's new
- Settings is now a window over the app, grouped into General, System, Appearance, Behaviour, and Plan and billing, with a search box to find any setting by name.
- Appearance offers a Light / Dark choice. Light is still the default, and the theme you picked is now applied as soon as LotusQ starts rather than only after opening Settings.
- Settings with two options are a single switch-style choice, such as Push-to-talk or Hands-free, and Instantly or Ask first for learning your corrections.
- Recording a shortcut is steadier. The shortcut box keeps its size while it listens for keys, every shortcut sits on its own row, and switching the dictation trigger back from the Globe key restores your last custom shortcut.
- Plan and billing now lives in Settings and shows the current prices: $6 a month or $60 a year, with a 7-day trial.
- The overlay's quick settings stay in step with Settings — a change made in one shows up in the other straight away.
What's fixed
- One address for the cloud. Dictation, formatting, Command Mode and
dictionary sync all go through
api.lotusq.io, which routes each connection to the nearest healthy region. - Email sign-up confirmation works in the app. Signing up with email shows a
"Check your email" panel with a resend button, the confirmation link signs you
in, and sign-in errors explain what to do next. The
lotusq://link now opens the app on macOS and Linux as well as Windows. - Command Mode works on Linux. It now reads the text you actually selected, including in browsers, instead of receiving an empty selection.
LotusQ 2.0.0
Highlights
LotusQ 2.0 is a new desktop engine. Dictation now runs inside the app itself rather than in a separate engine process, so LotusQ starts faster, has one process instead of two, and is a much smaller download: the Windows installer drops from 691 MB to 166 MB, and the Debian package from 200 MB to 125 MB.
What's new
- A redesigned LotusQ mark, app icon, and installer imagery.
- The overlay now shows a live microphone level meter. It rests on the baseline when you are silent, and its colour shifts as you get louder — teal for normal speech, amber when loud, red at peak — so you can see at a glance whether the microphone is picking you up.
- Automatic language detection. Pick a language, or turn on auto-detect and each dictation is sent to the engine best suited to the language you spoke. All 78 supported languages are in the picker.
- The overlay shows the app you are dictating into, with its icon, and follows the cursor onto whichever display you are working on.
- The tray icon shows whether the microphone is open.
- Dictionary and snippets carry over, with improved dictionary suggestions and a personal vocabulary that helps the recogniser hear your added words.
- The correction card hands focus straight back to the app you were typing in when it closes.
- New onboarding, with language flags, that walks through setup on first run.