Setting your language
Open Settings, then Preferences under App, and find the Language section. There are two settings there and they do different things:
Changing the interface language does nothing to your dictation, and vice versa.
The app describes them as being set “independently” for exactly this reason.
Your transcription language applies everywhere — dictation, meeting notes, and
uploaded audio all use the same one.
The engine is a different matter and is set per mode: dictation, note
recording, and audio upload each choose their own under Settings →
Speech-to-Text under AI Models. So it’s possible to be on Whisper for
dictation and Parakeet for uploads, and get different language coverage from
each — with one language setting feeding both.
Auto-detect
Auto-detect is the default, and it works out the language from what you say. It’s the right choice if you switch languages regularly or use more than one in a single passage. Naming your language outright is more accurate than leaving it on auto, particularly on short or noisy clips where there’s less for the detector to go on. If you nearly always dictate in one language, set it.What each engine supports
Sixty distinct languages appear across all three, plus auto-detect. Whisper has
the widest coverage, so if a language you need isn’t offered, check which engine
that mode is on first — moving from Parakeet to Whisper adds thirty-odd
languages.
You may see “100+ languages” on the OpenWhispr website. That refers to the
languages the underlying Whisper model family can handle. The number you can
actually select in the app today is 60.