# All pill states explained. Dimmy Help.

> All pill states explained. Step-by-step help for Dimmy, the native voice dictation app for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Source: https://dimmy.app/help/pill-states/

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The Pill

# All pill states explained

Idle, recording, transcribing, LLM, done, error. Each one has a unique shape, colour, and animation.

Every state of the dictation pipeline maps to a distinct pill state. Once you've used Dimmy for a day you read the pill without thinking.

The six pill states side-by-side: idle, recording, transcribing, LLM, done, error

| State          | Visual                                       | Meaning                                     |
| -------------- | -------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Idle           | Small capsule, dim border                    | Waiting for the hotkey.                     |
| Recording      | Expanded pill, rainbow border, live waveform | Capturing audio. Bars move with your voice. |
| Transcribing   | Dots or spinner, solid border                | Running STT, local or cloud.                |
| LLM processing | Style-coloured border, style icon            | Post-processing with the active style.      |
| Done           | Green checkmark, brief                       | Text was pasted into the focused app.       |
| Error          | Red border, tooltip                          | Something failed. Hover for the reason.     |

## Live waveform

While recording, the pill expands and shows a real-time volume meter built from the same audio that goes to the transcriber. If you see no bars moving, your microphone is silent or muted at the OS level.

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Recording the same phrase three times with different volume levels, watching the waveform respond

## Style icon

During LLM processing, the icon inside the pill switches to the active style (a pencil for Correct, a sparkle for Elaborate, and so on). Tells you at a glance which style will be applied.

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## In this category

[ The PillWhat the pill isThe small always-on-top overlay. It shows whether Dimmy is idle, recording, transcribing, or done.](https://dimmy.app/help/pill-overview/) [ The PillMove, resize, hide the pillDrag the pill anywhere. Pin to a corner. Change opacity when idle. Hide it entirely until the hotkey is pressed.](https://dimmy.app/help/pill-position/) [ The PillTray and menu-bar iconBesides the pill, Dimmy puts a tiny icon in your system tray (Windows, Linux) or menu bar (macOS). Quick access to Settings, History, Quit.](https://dimmy.app/help/tray-menu/)

Last updated: 2026-05-22

On this page

1. [01 Live waveform](#live-waveform)
2. [02 Style icon](#style-icon)