How does Codus learn the names I say when I dictate?
Codus builds a list of the names you deal with, such as clients, colleagues, companies and your own business, from your recent email and Brain notes and chats on your Mac. Dictation uses that list so those names come out spelled the way you write them. Only the list of names leaves your Mac. Your messages and email addresses stay on it. You can turn it off in Settings → Codus Whisper → Use names from my email and notes to improve dictation.
Before you start
This comes with Codus 0.2.218. It is on by default.
- The names come from email you have connected to Codus and from your Brains: their notes, tasks, journal and chats. Codus has no calendar connection, so calendar events are not used.
- To store the list with your Codus account you need to be signed in. While you are signed out, the list stays on your Mac and is sent the next time you sign in.
What it uses and what it leaves out
Codus looks at the last 90 days, with recent names ranked first. It picks out names that come up repeatedly and ranks them by how recent, how frequent and how unusual they are. It keeps up to 300.
It always includes:
- your own name, once;
- your company and your town, taken from your email signature;
- the first name of someone you deal with often, when it is an unusual one, as well as their full name.
Brand names with a few digits, such as Studio360, and names written in capitals, such as an agency's initials, are kept too.
It leaves out:
- ordinary dictionary words, which dictation already spells correctly;
- email addresses, phone numbers, web links, reference numbers and anything that looks like a code or password;
- mail from automated senders, such as receipts, newsletters and sign-in codes;
- the street, building and postcode lines of your signature;
- every spelling of your own name except one.
The list is rebuilt about a minute after Codus opens and then once a day. Nothing is shown on screen while it runs.
Turn it off or on
- Click the gear → See all settings → Codus Whisper.
- Find Use names from my email and notes to improve dictation.
- Click Off. Codus stops building the list, deletes it from your Mac and removes it from your Codus account.
- To use it again, click On. Codus builds a fresh list straight away.
If you are offline or signed out when you turn it off, Codus tries again when you next sign in and once a day after that, until the list is removed from your account.
How do I know it worked?
On is highlighted under Use names from my email and notes to improve dictation. Dictate a sentence with a client or company name you often email about. When it is working, the name comes out spelled the way it is written in your mail. A name that only appears in automated mail, or only once in your notes, is not added.
If the setting is Off, dictation still works without help from your names.