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Get started on Mac.

About twenty minutes, most of it waiting for downloads. Six steps, each explained where it matters, and nothing you need to decide before you start.

Before you begin
  • A Mac running macOS 13 or later. Windows builds exist but nobody has run one yet; they are listed at the bottom of the overview page for the adventurous.
  • A microphone. A clip-on one is best; the built-in one works for a first try.
  • The preview needs a separate Speechmatics account for transcription. Step 3 walks you through it. Speechmatics bills that usage directly, on their pay-as-you-go terms; Mila itself costs nothing to try.
  • Patient consent stays with your practice’s existing process. Mila records only when you press Record.

  1. Download the right file for your Mac

    Click the Apple menu, then About This Mac. If the line beginning Chip says Apple M-something, take the Apple silicon file. If it says Processor and mentions Intel, take the Intel file.

    Download for Apple silicon Download for Intel

    Version 0.1.0, about 130 MB. Mila does not update itself yet; when there is a new version, this page will say so.

  2. Open it, and get past the warning

    Open the downloaded file and drag Mila into Applications. The first time you open it, macOS will say it cannot verify the developer. That is expected: the preview is not yet signed with an Apple developer certificate.

    1. In Applications, right-click Mila and choose Open. If a dialog offers Open, choose it.
    2. If instead it only offers Move to Bin: open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to Mila. Then open Mila again.

    If macOS says the app is damaged rather than unverified, the download is from before 10 September 2026. Download it again from this page.

  3. Create a Speechmatics account and paste in a key

    Transcription runs on Speechmatics, in the EU. You hold that account directly, so the recordings pass between your computer and a service you control, with nothing of ours in between.

    1. Go to portal.speechmatics.com and create an account. Choose the pay-as-you-go option and add a payment method when asked.
    2. In the portal, open API keys and generate a key. Copy it once; the portal will not show it again.
    3. In Mila, open Settings, paste the key into the transcription box and save. Mila keeps it in your Mac’s keychain.

    Cost is set by Speechmatics per hour of audio and is on their pricing page; a typical appointment is a fraction of an hour. Their console also has a setting for whether they may use your data to improve their models. We recommend turning it off.

  4. Allow the microphone and choose it

    Press Record once. macOS will ask whether Mila may use the microphone; allow it. Then, in Settings, pick the microphone you want Mila to use. The level meter should move when you speak.

    Bluetooth headsets are best avoided: they drop to a narrow phone-call band, and that is where the sounds that tell dental terms apart live. A wired clip-on or a USB microphone gives a much cleaner transcript.

  5. Record a test and read it back

    Record a minute of yourself and a colleague talking as you would in an appointment, say the patient’s name near the start, and stop. Transcription happens after you stop, not during; a couple of minutes later the recording shows as ready.

    Open it. You will see the conversation as turns, each labelled Dentist or Patient. If a label is wrong, change it at the top; your choice is kept. Where Mila is unsure who was speaking it says so rather than guessing.

    Write your note from that transcript, in Mila’s note screen or straight into your practice software. Automatic note drafting is in development and is not yet available.

  6. Add the Chrome side panelOptional

    The side panel shows today’s list and each note next to whatever practice software you use in Chrome, with one button that copies the note to your clipboard. It is not yet on the Chrome Web Store, so it is loaded by hand; that is a one-time job.

    1. Download the side panel and double-click the zip to unpack it. Keep the resulting folder somewhere permanent, such as Documents; Chrome loads it from there.
    2. In Chrome, open chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode (top right), click Load unpacked, and choose that folder.
    3. In Mila, open Settings → Chrome side panel and pair: Mila shows a code, and you type it into the panel. They only ever talk to each other on your own computer.

    Publishing it on the Chrome Web Store, so it installs with one click, is on the list. Until then this is the only route Chrome allows for an extension outside the store.

Stuck, or something looks wrong?

Write to Mila-app@protonmail.com. Replies come from the dentist building this. Say which step you were on and what the screen said, and keep patient content out of the message.

Where your recordings go and what leaves your computer is set out in full on the data protection page. What has and has not been tested is on the development status page.