On-device transcription
Whisper runs locally via WhisperKit. Audio never leaves your Mac. Pick the model size that fits your patience and disk: tiny / base / small / medium / large.
SAGECAST · MACOS
A calmer way to listen, take notes,
and chat with your podcasts.
Local-first podcast player. On-device Whisper transcription, time-stamped notes you can scrub to, and an AI chat that talks to your transcript — using your own keys, not ours.
macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Free · Open source soon
FEATURES
Everything that matters, nothing that doesn't.
Chat with the transcript
Ask follow-up questions, summarize an episode, pull out action items. Bring your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, or Grok — or paste any custom model id.
Time-stamped notes
Capture a thought mid-listen. Scrub the audio to nudge the timestamp. Export everything as Markdown grouped by show.
Library that travels with you
Subscribed shows, liked episodes, transcripts, chats, and progress export to a single JSON file. Import on the next Mac and pick up exactly where you left off.
Public radio, too
Browse and save live stations from RadioBrowser. Search your saved set in-place. Same player, no second app.
OPML import
Bring your subscriptions from Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts — any app that exports OPML. One file, one click.
SCREENSHOTS
What it looks like.
← scroll to see more →
PRIVACY
Your data stays on your Mac.
- Audio never uploaded. Whisper transcription runs locally. Models are downloaded once and reused.
- Your AI keys, your traffic. Chat requests go directly from your Mac to OpenAI / Anthropic / OpenRouter / Grok. SageCast doesn't proxy or log anything.
- No analytics, no telemetry, no account. There's nothing for us to collect because there is no us in the loop.
-
Everything you'd back up, in one folder.
Subscriptions, notes, transcripts, chats, and progress
live in
~/Library/Application Support/Paudcast/. Whisper models live in~/Documents/huggingface/on purpose — they're multi-GB and shared with any other WhisperKit-based app on your Mac so nothing gets duplicated.
PRICING
Free. Forever. No catch.
One person built SageCast as a side project, not a startup. There's no subscription, no upgrade tier, no premium-locked features. The whole app, every release.
$0
- ✓ Unlimited podcast subscriptions, episodes, and notes
- ✓ On-device Whisper transcription, every model, no quota
- ✓ Chat-with-transcript across OpenAI / Anthropic / OpenRouter / Grok
- ✓ Public-radio streaming via RadioBrowser
- ✓ OPML import, Markdown export, settings backup
- ✓ No account. No analytics. No upsell.
One honest caveat: the AI chat uses your own API key. Calls go straight from your Mac to the provider, and they bill you on their side — typically pennies per chat. SageCast itself never sees a credit card.
DOWNLOAD
Three ways to install.
SageCast isn't notarized with Apple yet, so Gatekeeper will warn on first launch unless you take care of it at install time. Pick whichever path fits — the first one is the easiest by a wide margin.
Homebrew Recommended
One paste. No Gatekeeper warnings. Auto-updates via brew upgrade.
brew tap anshulg8/sagecast
brew install --cask sagecast
Brew downloads the DMG, verifies the SHA256, copies the app
to /Applications, and strips the quarantine
attribute automatically — so the first launch is silent.
Don't have Brew? brew.sh.
Direct DMG + Terminal one-liner
Best if you don't want Brew. Two steps; under a minute.
- Open the DMG, drag SageCast.app into Applications.
- Open Terminal and run:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/SageCast.appStrips the quarantine flag macOS attaches to anything downloaded over HTTP. Once it's gone, Gatekeeper stops asking.
Direct DMG + System Settings
No Terminal needed. Slightly more clicks.
- Open the DMG, drag SageCast.app into Applications.
- Double-click SageCast. The "could not verify" dialog appears — click Done.
- Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
- Scroll down. You'll see "SageCast was blocked…" with an Open Anyway button. Click it.
- The warning shows once more. Click Open.
macOS remembers the override after this. Subsequent launches open silently like any installed app.
FAQ
Things people ask.
Why does macOS say "could not verify" or "from an unidentified developer"?
SageCast isn't notarized with Apple yet (that requires a paid Developer ID). It's just Gatekeeper being cautious about unsigned downloads — the app itself is fine.
Easiest path: install via Homebrew. The cask strips the quarantine flag automatically so first launch is silent. See the three install options in the download section if you'd rather use the DMG.
Do I need an OpenAI / Anthropic key?
Only if you want the chat-with-transcript feature. The rest — listening, transcription, notes — works fully offline once you've downloaded a Whisper model.
Which Whisper model should I pick?
Start with small — it's the best tradeoff for most Macs and English-language podcasts. Drop to base for an older Mac, jump to medium for harder accents.
Can I move my library to another Mac?
Yes. Settings → Backup → Export Settings bundles favorites, notes, transcripts, chats, and progress into a single JSON file. Import on the new machine.
Is it open source?
The plan is yes — under a permissive license like MIT — once I've audited the history for stray API keys, paths, and personal data. Until then the binary's free and the source is private. Email hi@anshulgarg.in if you'd like early access.
How do I report a bug or ask a question?
Email hi@anshulgarg.in. Steps to reproduce + a screenshot make my life much easier.