What we’re changing, and why
Update — 7 October 2026: The first part of this has shipped. Clabrate is free once you verify your email, and you need to be 16 or older. Nothing is sold: Cloud Voice still uses your own API key, and there’s no managed voice. We don’t collect usage analytics in this release, in the app or on the website. Everything else below is still a plan.
Update — 12 October 2026: Managed Cloud Voice, which this post calls a maybe, has shipped. Cloud Voice now runs on your Clabrate account, not your own API key, so the lines below that say it uses your own key describe the product as it was on 2 October. It uses credits: an account is given 30,000 free starting credits, once per email address and once per installation of the app. Top-ups can’t be bought yet; you can register interest in the app or on the Account page of this site. The other cloud AI features still use your own key or login. The Privacy Policy lists what the account holds when you use Cloud Voice.
Update — 13 October 2026: The website now uses Google Analytics. The Privacy Policy says what it collects and how to turn it off. The app still collects no usage analytics.
I built Clabrate around local voice tools and a one-time purchase. Months later, I still haven’t landed a paying customer. That deserves a closer look.
I don’t yet know where the approach is failing. People might be missing the site, leaving before downloading, getting stuck during setup, or trying the app without finding a reason to return. Without measurement, I’m guessing.
So we’re changing direction. Some of the product is already here. The account and business changes are still plans.
A conversation that can do something
Cloud Voice is speech-to-speech conversation. You can hear a reply while working with the tools you’ve enabled, ask follow-up questions, and use voice to manage coding agents through Herdr or change app settings.
That experience has changed how I think about Clabrate. Dictation gets words onto the screen. Conversation lets me keep working through an idea and ask for something to happen.
Cloud Voice is an optional cloud path. Its audio goes to the voice provider, along with context and tool results used in that conversation. Local dictation remains available on your Mac. Cloud Voice uses your own API key.
A free core app, with an account
We plan to make the core app free and introduce verified email sign-in. Later, an account could give earned Spot unlocks somewhere durable to belong, so reinstalling the app or changing Macs doesn’t lose them. It doesn’t do that yet.
We may offer managed Cloud Voice later. Nothing is decided, and nothing is sold today. Cosmetic extras for Spot are another idea we’re considering, with Spot staying a small, optional part of the experience.
Measurement we can explain
At some point we’d like to add website and app analytics to understand which campaigns bring people in, whether onboarding works, which features get used, and where things fail.
The intended events describe actions and failures: a download, a completed setup step, a successful conversation, or a connection error. Audio, transcripts, screenshots, API keys, and terminal contents should stay out of analytics.
None of that is switched on. Before enabling any collection, we’ll publish what we collect, why we collect it, and the relevant controls and data handling. Those details need to match the implementation.
Update, 13 October 2026: the website now uses Google Analytics. The Privacy Policy says what it collects and how to turn it off. The app still collects no usage analytics.
The older posts will keep their original text, with dated updates pointing here. They explain choices I made at the time. This post records the direction we’re building toward. We’ll update the offer and policy when those changes are ready.