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To record system audio on a Mac, Steno uses a one-time audio-permission setup that lets it capture the sound your Mac plays back — the other side of a call, a video, or any app — at the same time as your microphone. Once enabled, every recording can include system audio, with your mic and the system audio kept as separate channels for speaker labels.

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One-time setup

  1. In Steno, open the recording options popover (the ··· button next to the record button) and turn on Record system audio.
  2. If macOS prompts for permission, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording.
  3. Enable Steno, then relaunch the app if macOS asks you to.
  4. The toggle stays on for future recordings until you turn it off.
See Recording for the full recording options.

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What system audio captures

System audio is everything your Mac plays through its output — the remote participants on a call, a video you are watching, or audio from any app. Combined with your microphone, it lets Steno record both sides of a conversation. There is no per-app filtering; Steno captures the system output as a whole. System audio capture requires macOS 14.4 or later; on older macOS versions the toggle is hidden.

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Speaker labels

Because your microphone and the system audio are recorded as separate channels, the transcript is labelled [You] (your mic) and [Others] (system audio). See Speaker labels.
macOS requires explicit permission before an app can capture system audio. After you allow Steno in System Settings, future system-audio recordings work without repeating setup.
No. The recording is saved locally and transcribed on your Mac. No meeting content is uploaded unless you have configured an optional cloud summarization model. The app does send anonymous usage analytics by default (no meeting content), which you can turn off in Settings → Advanced. See How on-device processing works.