Permissions

macOS gates everything Shortlisted needs to hear. Three prompts, each asked the first time it matters.

Microphone

Lets the app hear you. Used for the level meter, the answer timer, and — if you enable it — the on-device transcript of what you said. Your microphone audio is never uploaded.

Screen & System Audio Recording

Lets the app hear the meeting. The name is Apple's and it's misleading: no screen is captured. This is simply the permission macOS uses for system audio, and there's no narrower one to ask for.

Without it, macOS delivers silence rather than an error. Everything looks like it's working while nothing is heard — which is why the app checks for it and refuses to start a session that would be silent.

After granting it, quit and reopen the app. macOS only re-reads this permission at launch.

Speech Recognition

Optional. Lets macOS transcribe your own answers on-device so you can review them under each response. If you decline, everything else still works — you just don't get the "My answer" section.

When a permission gets stuck

If the app insists access is denied while System Settings shows it enabled, macOS is holding a record for a previous version. Toggle it off and on, then reopen the app.