Shortcuts and system buttons
Start dictating without hunting for the app, straight to the target you want: one button for Claude, another for Claude Code. Or use Macrophone as a step in your own shortcuts.
- The two actions
- Send To
- Action Button
- Control Center and Lock Screen
- Back Tap
- Siri
- Dictate Text in your shortcuts
The two actions#
Macrophone adds two actions to the Shortcuts app on your iPhone:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Start Dictation | Opens Macrophone already listening and sends the result to your Mac. Its Send To parameter picks where it goes, so the action reads “Dictate to Claude”. |
| Dictate Text | Opens Macrophone listening and returns what you said as the action’s output, so the next steps in your shortcut can use it. It’s also sent to your Mac as usual. |
Why the app opens. iOS only lets an app use the microphone while it’s on screen, so both actions bring Macrophone to the front, already recording. Tap to stop, as usual.
Send To#
Start Dictation has one parameter, Send To. Its choices are your Mac's targets (the profiles on your Mac, such as Claude, Claude Code (Terminal), ChatGPT or Quick note) plus Automatic:
| Send To | What happens |
|---|---|
| A target | This dictation goes to that target. Each one shows the words that pick it by voice, such as “Say “Claude, …””. |
| Automatic | Your Mac picks by the app in front when the dictation arrives, using your per-app rules. |
| Empty | Whatever is picked in the app’s Send to chip. |
A trigger's choice applies to that one recording and doesn't change what's picked in the app. A voice prefix still wins: say “ChatGPT, …” into a Claude button and it goes to ChatGPT. The list is the one your iPhone last heard from your Mac, so it works while the Mac is asleep. A new target on the Mac appears after the phone next connects. See which one wins.
Action Button#
On iPhone 15 Pro and later models with an Action Button:
- Open Settings › Action Button.
- Swipe to Controls and choose Macrophone's Dictate to Mac control. Tap it to choose a target for Send To; the button then reads “Dictate to Claude” (or “Dictate · Automatic”). Or swipe to Shortcut and pick a shortcut that runs Start Dictation.
- Press and hold the Action Button, then talk.
Control Center and Lock Screen#
On iOS 18 and later, Macrophone has a control, Dictate to Mac, for Control Center, the Lock Screen and the Action Button. Each copy can send to its own target, so you can have one for Claude and one for Claude Code side by side.
- Control Center: open Control Center, touch and hold an empty area, tap Add a Control, and search for Macrophone. Tap the new control while editing to choose its target.
- Lock Screen: touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize › Lock Screen, tap one of the bottom buttons to replace it, and search for Macrophone.
Left without a target, the control is labelled Dictate to Mac and uses whatever is picked in the app.
Back Tap#
Works on any iPhone that runs Macrophone. Create a one-step shortcut with Start Dictation first (set Send To if you like), then:
- Open Settings › Accessibility › Touch › Back Tap.
- Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap.
- Scroll to Shortcuts and pick your shortcut.
Siri#
These work with no setup. The ones that name a target work once your iPhone has connected to your Mac and learned its targets; say the name as it appears in Send To:
| Say | What happens |
|---|---|
| “Dictate to Claude with Macrophone” | Starts listening, sending to Claude. Any target name works: “Dictate to Claude Code with Macrophone”. |
| “Send to ChatGPT with Macrophone” | The same, another way to say it. |
| “Dictate with Macrophone” | Starts listening, sending to whatever is picked in the app. Also “Talk to my Mac with Macrophone”. |
| “Transcribe with Macrophone” | Runs Dictate Text. Also “Get text from Macrophone”. |
You can also name any shortcut you build, such as “Prompt Claude”, and run it by saying its name.
Dictate Text in your shortcuts#
Dictate Text returns the text as output, so Macrophone becomes the voice input for whatever you build. The cleanup level and dictionary from Macrophone's settings apply.
Example: a voice note in Notes#
- Add Dictate Text (Macrophone).
- Add Append to Note (Notes) and set its text to the Dictated Text variable.
The Mac can do this on its own, too: a profile with Save to Apple Notes or Add to Reminders.
Example: send it to a server#
- Add Dictate Text.
- Add Get Contents of URL, method POST, request body JSON, with a
textfield set to Dictated Text.
Shortcuts that send text to a server or another app take it off your devices. That's your choice to make, and Macrophone never does it on its own. To have the Mac send every dictation somewhere, use a webhook profile instead.