# VOCAL NOTE ONE — User Guide Hello! You've received a file called `VocalNoteOne.html`. It's an application that lets you dictate notes out loud and save them on your computer. Nothing to install — it's very simple! --- ## 1. How to open the application 1. Find the file `VocalNoteOne.html` on your computer. 2. Right-click it. 3. Click "Open with", then choose **Google Chrome**. 4. The application opens straight away in your browser. > **Compatible browsers** > > * **Google Chrome — recommended.** Dictation is most reliable in Chrome, on Windows, Mac and Linux. > * **Microsoft Edge — works, with two caveats.** Dictation is sometimes less steady over long sessions. And if your computer is managed by an IT department, they may have disabled Edge's speech recognition: the application then opens normally, but no text appears. If that happens, open the file with Chrome. > * **Firefox and Safari are not compatible.** Dictation will not work. --- ## 2. How to dictate a note 1. Click the blue "Record my notes" button. 2. A small window opens at the top of the screen. Click **"Allow while visiting the site"**. 3. The button turns red and reads "Stop recording": you can speak! 4. Speak normally — your text is written automatically into the large text area. 5. A slight delay between speaking and the text appearing is normal: that's the speech recognition processing time. 6. If you spot a mistake, click directly in the text and fix it with the keyboard. Your corrections are kept, even if you carry on dictating afterwards. 7. When you're done, click the red "Stop recording" button. 8. Your note is saved automatically. --- ## 3. Resuming after a silence — **please read** This is the most important point in this guide. **What happens.** If you go about **20 seconds without speaking**, Google Chrome interrupts dictation and asks again for permission to use the microphone. The small window reappears. **Two places tell you what's going on**, and they don't say the same thing. ### At the top — where you stand | What you see | What it means | | :--- | :--- | | **Transcript**, no coloured dot | No dictation in progress. | | **Recording…**, flashing red dot | Dictation is running. | ### At the bottom, just above the buttons — what to do This line stays empty as long as everything is fine. When you need to do something, it appears here, on a yellow background: > ⬤ Click "Allow while visiting the site" to resume That's the prolonged-silence message. Click the button named in the message inside Chrome's small window: the line disappears by itself as soon as you say a word, and dictation picks up again. **Why at the bottom and not at the top?** Chrome's permission window always opens at the top of the page. In a narrow window, it covers the top of the application. The bottom of the screen stays visible in all circumstances: a message explaining which button to click must never be hidden by the very window it's talking about. **Nothing is lost.** The text you've already dictated stays on screen. You pick up exactly where you left off, in the same note. **Why this happens.** When you open a file directly from your hard drive, the browser has no stable identity to attach your permission to. It is therefore obliged to ask again. This is a Chrome security rule, not a flaw in the application, and no application setting can work around it. **The first two choices in the window amount to the same thing.** "Allow while visiting the site" and "Allow this time" behave identically here: the window will come back after every prolonged silence either way. There's no point working out which to pick — take the first. Never click "Never allow", which would block the microphone for good. ### If the internet connection drops The same bottom line warns you, in grey this time: > ⬤ No internet connection. Dictation needs the internet to transcribe your voice. * If you click "Record my notes" with no connection, dictation doesn't start and this message appears. You won't be talking to nothing. * If the connection drops while you're dictating, the message appears but **dictation is not stopped** and your text stays on screen. * As soon as the connection returns, transcription resumes on its own. **No permission window reopens** and there's nothing for you to click. --- ## 4. How to read and manage your notes 1. Click the blue "View my notes" button. 2. A window opens with all your saved notes, the most recent at the top. 3. Each note shows its text, its date and time, and three buttons: **Copy**, **Edit**, **Delete**. 4. Close this window with the "Close" button or the **Esc** key. --- ## 5. How to copy a note 1. Click "View my notes". 2. Click the **Copy** button on the note you want. 3. The text is copied. Paste it (`Ctrl+V`) into an email, a document, a messaging app… --- ## 6. How to export all your notes 1. Click "View my notes". 2. At the bottom of the window, click "Export all my notes (.txt)". 3. A text file containing all your notes, with their dates, is downloaded to your computer. 4. It's also the ideal way to make a backup. --- ## 7. How to edit a note you've already saved 1. Click "View my notes". 2. **Click directly on the note's text** to correct it. The **Edit** button does the same thing. 3. The text becomes editable. Make your corrections. 4. Click **Save** to confirm, or **Cancel** to back out. **Shortcuts while editing** * `Ctrl + Enter`: save without leaving the keyboard. * `Esc`: cancel the edit. The notes window stays open. If you've started editing a note and try to close the window, you'll be asked to confirm: your corrections cannot vanish unless you meant them to. --- ## 8. How to delete a note 1. Click "View my notes". 2. Click the red **Delete** button on the note concerned. 3. You'll be asked to confirm before anything is deleted. --- ## 9. Dark mode 1. Find the round button at the top right of the screen. 2. Click it to switch to dark mode. 3. Click again to go back to light mode. 4. Your preference is remembered: the application will open straight into the right theme, with no flicker. --- ## 10. Keyboard navigation The application can be used entirely from the keyboard. * **Tab**: move from one button to the next. The active button is surrounded by a clearly visible blue outline. * **Enter** or **Space**: activate the selected button. * **Ctrl + Enter**: save a note you're editing. * **Esc**: cancel an edit in progress, or close the notes window. State changes — dictation starting, waiting for permission, note saved, number of notes — are announced to screen readers. --- ## 11. Practical tips * You can save as many notes as you like; they stack up one after another. * The counter at the top tells you how many notes you have. * If the text is too small or too large, use `Ctrl` + mouse wheel to zoom. * Your notes are saved automatically on your computer, even if you close and reopen the file. * Your text in progress is saved as a draft while you dictate or type: if the file is closed accidentally, you get it back when you reopen. * If you use several language versions, each one keeps its own notes, separate from the others. * **Do you use an AI assistant (an LLM, such as ChatGPT or Claude)?** On a phone, voice dictation is built into the keyboard; on a computer, that feature is generally missing. VocalNoteOne fills that gap: dictate your question or instruction, copy the text, paste it into the conversation. It's considerably faster than typing, and it's one of the uses that prompted this application in the first place. --- ## 12. Troubleshooting | Problem | Solution | | :--- | :--- | | **The microphone doesn't work** | Check that you're using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, and that you clicked "Allow while visiting the site". | | **The permission window keeps reappearing** | Normal after about 20 seconds of silence. Click "Allow while visiting the site": dictation resumes and nothing is lost. See section 3. | | **A yellow line appears at the bottom** | Dictation is waiting for your permission. Click the button named in the message, inside Chrome's small window. See section 3. | | **The text appears with a slight delay** | Normal: latency is part of how speech recognition works. | | **No text is written at all** | Speak louder and more clearly, and check your internet connection. If you're on Microsoft Edge and still nothing comes through, open the file with Google Chrome. | | **A grey line appears at the bottom** | You've lost your internet connection. Dictation needs it: it's the browser's service that transcribes your voice, not your computer. Restore the connection and dictation resumes on its own. Your already-saved notes remain accessible offline. | | **A message says dictation has stopped** | The connection was lost several times in a row. Click "Record my notes" to start again; your text is intact. | | **You can't see your older notes** | Always open the same `VocalNoteOne.html` file, in the same browser, and in the same language version. | | **A "Storage full" message appears** | Your note stays on screen — it isn't lost. Export your notes as `.txt`, delete the oldest ones, then click "Stop recording" again. | Your problem is not in this table? Write to **contact.vocalnoteone@gmail.com** describing what is happening and which browser you are using. Messages are read. --- ## 13. Supporting the project VocalNoteOne is free and will remain so. There is no paid version, no reserved feature, no advertising: what you have in front of you is the complete application. If it is useful to you and you would like to help its development, you can make a donation in cryptocurrency. This is entirely optional, and it unlocks nothing further. The addresses are at the bottom of the screen, below the two buttons, on either side of the logo. Four networks are accepted: Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum and Arbitrum. The address shown is shortened so that it fits in the window; click on it and the full address is copied, and you only need to paste it into your wallet. --- **Enjoy!** **VocalNote One — Dictate. Save. Share.** *User Guide — Version 1.7, 2026*