Mac
The Hotkey on the Mac
One key starts and ends every recording. Here's how tapping and holding differ.
Your key.
By default, it's the right Command key alone, with no second key added. You can swap it for a different key in Settings. There's only this one binding, no second hotkey for anything else.
Tap or hold.
Tap it briefly, and recording starts and keeps going until you press the key again. Hold it down, and Diktat only records for as long as you hold it, stopping the moment you let go. Diktat figures out on its own which of the two you did. There's no switch between the two modes.
During the recording.
The pill in the menu bar shows that Diktat is recording. When you stop, the text lands in the focused field and in your clipboard as well. If the text can't be inserted, say into a protected field, it still ends up in your clipboard, and the pill tells you why.
Changing your key.
In Settings, you'll find your current key listed under the Hotkey section. Click Change there, and Diktat waits for your very next key press. Press whichever key or combination you want, and it's set right away. Besides the right Command key, you can pick Option or Control, for example. A single function key, F13 say, also works fine as a hotkey. A plain letter or number key on its own won't work, though. It would otherwise fire constantly while you're just typing normally.
When there's a conflict.
Diktat doesn't check whether another app already uses your chosen key. If one does, either only the other app reacts, or both suddenly react at once. If your key stops responding reliably, that's usually exactly the reason why. Just pick a completely different key for the hotkey in Settings then. A rarely used function key is usually the safest, least noticeable choice. The right Command key alone is rarely claimed by other apps, by design. Still, test it once afterward, right in the app where it used to get stuck.