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Minutist
Pre-launch. The free desktop build works today — it isn't code-signed yet, so your OS warns on first run. Paid sync, billing, and the mobile app aren't open yet. Get in touch.

Install on macOS

Minutist runs natively on Apple Silicon (M-series) and Intel Macs. A single universal DMG covers both architectures.

Release binaries are on the project’s GitHub releases page. They are not yet signed or notarised, so macOS Gatekeeper blocks the app on first open until you approve it (see below); verify the SHA-256 checksum. You can also build from source.

Requirements

Section titled “Requirements”
  • macOS 13 Ventura or later
  • Free disk space for the app plus the transcription model you choose; the app shows model sizes when you pick one

Install

Section titled “Install”

  1. Download the DMG.

    Download the universal .dmg from the GitHub releases page. The version is in the filename.

  2. Open the DMG and drag Minutist to Applications.

    Double-click the downloaded .dmg file. Drag the Minutist icon into the Applications folder alias in the window.

  3. Eject the DMG.

    Right-click the mounted volume in Finder and choose Eject (or drag it to the Bin).

  4. Launch Minutist from Applications.

    Double-click Minutist.app. Because the build is not notarised, macOS Gatekeeper blocks it on first open; see below to approve it.

Gatekeeper

Section titled “Gatekeeper”

The build is not yet signed or notarised, so macOS Gatekeeper blocks it on first open with a message like “Minutist cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer” (on macOS 15, “not opened because Apple could not verify it is free of malware”).

  1. Right-click (or Control-click) Minutist.app in Applications and choose Open, then Open again in the dialog.

  2. If macOS still refuses (macOS 15 restricts the right-click bypass), open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the note about Minutist being blocked, and click Open Anyway. Or clear the quarantine flag from Terminal:

    Terminal window
    xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Minutist.app

You will not be prompted again for this version.

Verify the download

Section titled “Verify the download”

Each release publishes a SHA-256 checksum alongside the DMG. To verify:

Terminal window
shasum -a 256 Minutist-<version>-universal.dmg

Compare the output against the checksum listed on the GitHub release.

Apple Silicon vs Intel

Section titled “Apple Silicon vs Intel”

The universal binary runs natively on both. No separate download is needed. You can confirm which slice is active:

Terminal window
file /Applications/Minutist.app/Contents/MacOS/Minutist

On Apple Silicon you will see arm64; on Intel, x86_64. On Apple Silicon with Rosetta installed, the arm64 slice still takes precedence.

Model download on first run

Section titled “Model download on first run”

The free build downloads one or more on-device models the first time you use transcription or summarisation. That download is the only network call the free app makes; it runs on your machine after that, with no account and no telemetry.

Model files are stored in ~/Library/Application Support/ai.minutist/ (or a custom XDG data path if you set one).

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”