Heliotype records meetings from the macOS menu bar without joining as a participant, capturing both sides of audio in one click. Recordings are automatically named based on active calendar events, and transcripts are generated as timestamped, speaker-labeled plain text files. ($29 launch price, $39 regular; no subscription)
The recording approach captures audio at the system level rather than through a meeting platform bot, meaning no participant count changes and no recording notifications appear to other attendees. Speaker identification is handled in the transcript output.
Transcription requires an AssemblyAI API key, which the user provides and controls. AssemblyAI processes only the audio segments submitted for transcription; audio is not retained by Heliotype. New AssemblyAI accounts include approximately $50 in free credits, covering over 200 hours of meeting transcription.
Generated transcripts work directly with AI assistants like Claude or ChatGPT for meeting summaries, action items, or follow-up drafting. No screen recording is performed and no telemetry is collected.
System requirements: Apple Silicon Mac required. macOS 15 Sequoia or later for menu bar recording; macOS 13 for transcribing pre-existing files. Distributed as a 50 MB DMG, not available on the Mac App Store.
Pricing: ($29 launch price, $39 regular; one-time, no subscription) Transcription costs approximately $0.17–0.23 per hour via AssemblyAI.
Limitations: Requires purchasing and managing an AssemblyAI API key separately. Apple Silicon only excludes Intel Mac users. macOS 15 requirement for recording may exclude users on older supported systems.
Alternatives: Fireflies.ai (bot-based, cloud transcription), Otter.ai (cloud transcription service), Whisper (open-source local transcription, command-line).
Suitable for users who record many meetings and want local storage of transcripts without a bot appearing in calls, particularly those who already use AI tools for note processing.
