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Silkwave
Silkwave is a unified AI workspace designed specifically for macOS. It consolidates major Large Language Models (LLMs) into a single native interface using a Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) architecture. This allows users to connect API keys from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Nebius, or run local models via Ollama. A standout feature is its ability to capture both system audio and microphone input simultaneously, enabling near real-time transcription and analysis of meetings or media directly on the device.
Key Features
- Unified Model Access: Connect and switch between top-tier models including GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Gemini 1.5 Pro, and specialized models from Nebius (DeepSeek) or Groq.
- Bring Your Own Key (BYOK): Users input their own API keys, ensuring they pay providers directly for usage without an intermediate markup on token costs.
- Advanced Audio Intelligence: Records system audio (what plays on your computer) and microphone input simultaneously. This is ideal for transcribing Zoom calls, webinars, or YouTube videos in real-time.
- Local Processing: Utilizes on-device transcription (leveraging Apple’s native frameworks) to transcribe audio without sending data to the cloud, ensuring privacy and zero cost for transcription.
- Multimodal File Chat: Drag and drop PDFs, video files, and audio recordings to analyze content, generate summaries, or extract action items using the connected AI models.
How It Works
Users download the native Mac application and enter their API keys in the settings menu. Once connected, they can open a chat window to query models immediately. For audio tasks, users select the recording source (System, Mic, or Both). The app generates a transcript which is automatically fed into the context window, allowing users to ask questions about the meeting or video content while it is still happening.
Use Cases
- Meeting Assistant: Record a Zoom or Teams meeting (system audio) along with your voice (mic) to generate accurate minutes and action items without a bot joining the call.
- Private Code Analysis: Use local models via Ollama to analyze sensitive codebases without sending intellectual property to external servers.
- Media Research: Watch a long video lecture or listen to a podcast file and ask the AI specific questions about the content to save time.
- Model Comparison: Send the same complex prompt to Claude and GPT-4o within the same interface to verify answers or generate better code.
Pros and Cons
- Pros: High privacy standards (keys and data stay local), native macOS performance, lower long-term costs for heavy users (pay-per-token), and the ability to capture system audio without complex routing.
- Cons: Available only on macOS, requires users to manage their own API keys, and lacks the cross-platform synchronization found in web-based alternatives.
Pricing
Silkwave operates on a Freemium model. The free version typically includes daily message limits. The Pro license is available as a monthly or annual subscription (approximately $40/year), which unlocks unlimited messaging and advanced recording capabilities. Users must separately pay for their own API usage fees directly to providers like OpenAI or Anthropic.
How Does It Compare?
- TypingMind: A web-first platform (available as a wrapped app) that offers extensive plugin support and cross-device sync. Unlike Silkwave, it is not a native Mac app and lacks deep system audio recording integration, focusing more on chat UI customization and team deployment.
- BoltAI: A strong native competitor that integrates deeply with macOS, allowing users to invoke AI text generation inside other apps (like Xcode or Notes). BoltAI focuses on “inline” generation and productivity shortcuts, whereas Silkwave differentiates itself with its specialized audio recording and meeting transcription workspace.
- FridayGPT: Focuses heavily on quick-access voice dictation (using Whisper) and grammar correction overlays. While it handles dictation well, it is designed more for quick interactions and text correction rather than the deep, long-form workspace and file analysis that Silkwave offers.
- MacWhisper: The gold standard for offline transcription on Mac. While MacWhisper is superior for pure transcription tasks, Silkwave bridges the gap by combining that transcription capability directly with an LLM chat interface for immediate analysis.
Final Thoughts
Silkwave is an excellent choice for power users, developers, and privacy-conscious professionals who want to break free from monthly AI subscriptions. By decoupling the interface from the model costs, it offers transparency and control that standard SaaS tools cannot match. Its specific ability to record system audio makes it uniquely valuable for users who need to analyze online meetings or content without inviting a third-party bot. If you are comfortable managing API keys and work exclusively on a Mac, this tool provides a highly efficient, private, and cost-effective workflow.