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No Dragon for Mac nor Enhanced Dictation

After "upgrading" to High Sierra I found that both Dragon for Mac (6) and Enhanced Dictation had ceased to function properly. As a disabled user, dependent on speech to text to use and control my computer, I strongly prefer Dragon for Mac – its feature set is considerably richer than that of OS X's Enhanced Dictation. I could survive using Enhanced Dictation, but after upgrading to 10.13 I found even that was no longer properly functioned, regardless of what microphone I used or whether or not Dragon had been loaded into the system. Has anyone had similar experiences with enhanced dictation or any suggestions? I've temporarily solve the problem by reverting to 10.12


I use an iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) within i7 processor and 32 GB of RAM, 1 TB SSD primary drive and 12 TB of external drives. As this machine is reaching its performance limits, I was sincerely hoping to upgrade to the new Mac Pro after it becomes available, but I have to solve this problem first or will eventually have to consider the complexities of a multi-Mac ethernet set up in my studio, or changing to another platform. I've a huge investment in music software (I'm a composer) and have happily used Mac's since the 80's – my first Apple was a Mac 512 K, so such a decision would be very painful. But, I can't afford to be stuck permanently at OS X 10.11.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014), macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Oct 16, 2017 6:52 AM

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31 replies

Oct 16, 2017 7:08 AM in response to Foucault's Swing

As is the case with any platform, you are responsible for making sure critical software you require is compatible before performing a major operating system upgrade.


According to Dragon's product information ( Dragon Professional Individual for Mac ) it is compatible with OS X El-Capitan (10.11). They do not state that it is compatible with either Sierra or High Sierra.

I suggest you revert to El-Capitan so that you can continue using Dragon, or contact Dragon for any assistance they might be able to give you in getting it running.

Oct 16, 2017 7:43 AM in response to Foucault's Swing

I have been using Dragon 6 on every High Sierra developer version. In apps like TextEdit I have had

very good results with much better dictation than earlier OS versions. There are problems however dictating into Safari I lose the correction box, dictating into mail is useless. I've never tried it to control the computer as I use a head mouse.



It's almost time for a new upgrade to Dragon which might help.

Oct 24, 2017 1:02 PM in response to Gizmo-__

I observed the same problem with Dragon compatibility and Apple Mail. Then, at last, Nuance released update 6.0.8 to fix incompatibilities with High Sierra. Predictably, it didn't fix a thing with Apple Mail. I've been using Dragon for years on Windows and Mac. The software continues to be buggy, telephone support is miserable; there is no way to leave feedback or questions on their website, and Nuance has removed its User forums. If it weren't the only dictation software out there, I would be out. Mac's Enhanced Dictation is no substitute.

Oct 25, 2017 4:34 AM in response to agarson

The loss of the forum made a big difference but given some of the subject matter you could see why. Support is seriously poor for a premium priced software package!


6.0.8 doesn't seem to make a lot of difference, I have had more problems in textedit where it randomly moves chunks of text. Pointless contacting Nuance support to be told to reinstall Dragon and little else.

Nov 14, 2017 12:14 PM in response to Foucault's Swing

This also happened to me after the High Sierra update. Reinstall does not work.


I've spent way too many hours finding a workaround, and as far as I know, all of the suggestions do not work.


Accessibility, including Dictation is essential for those of us that are differently abled. It's a very reasonable accommodation, and for Apple to completely ignore this problem is completely inhumane. 😮


How can we get Apple to take accessibility seriously? Any ideas?


Thanks,

C.

Nov 15, 2017 5:02 AM in response to C767938211

The latest update 6.0.8 for Dragon is meant to add High Sierra compatibility. Have you tried this version? It is almost time for the annual refill the coffers update from Nuance which might improve things but there again it usually doesn't.


I did some developer feedback for onscreen keyboard and dwell Click for High Sierra, didn't get much reaction from Apple probably because I said buy the KeyStrokes developer 🙂


Have you signed up for the OS beta program? Install the beta on an external drive and reinstall Dragon. Using Feedback Assistant you can then let Apple know of the problem.

Dec 10, 2017 6:05 AM in response to Foucault's Swing

I just bought a 2017 15 inch MacBook, retina display. I called Nuance for support in moving Dragon Dictate from my old MacBook to the new one. Support tech told me that my older version of Dragon Dictate was compatible with the older Macbook's version of High Sierra, but not with the new Macbook's version. I was told that I needed to purchase the newest Dragon Dictate version. It has been non-operative. I feel that I was cheated by Nuance and intend to call for a refund. The problem is with Nuance for failing to upgrade Dictate when new versions of OS are released!! I am impatiently waiting for a fix. The last N dance tech that I spoke with was honest to say that Dragon Dictate is incompatible with High Sierra and "Level 3 Support" was working on the problem. Some folks in management need to get a rude awakening!

Dec 10, 2017 6:16 AM in response to Mark1126

Nuance fail to respond to anything, other than shutting down their user forums because of all the complaints! One of the worst companies around, only interested in selling more software not fixing any problems. It is sad that they are the only option especially when so many disabled users rely upon them. Good luck with your refund, let us know if you get it or if they indicate when a fully operational version will be released.

Dec 12, 2017 11:17 AM in response to Gizmo-__

Great! Text edit works a treat. But it was working with Word and Pages before I ungraded to Sierra, so it should work them, as well as Mail. I will try new profile later but don't hold much hope as I can't see it helping with other commands. I'll just have for Nuance to admit the **** thing doesn't work with High Sierra and fix it. Thanks very much.

Dec 13, 2017 4:27 AM in response to barbesky

I'm glad it worked but sorry to tell you that it won't in Mail, mine has some crazy behaviour so I use Textedit and copy paste. It works in Skype and Chrome as well but Safari I lose the correction box. I can mix dictation and typed text in textedit but nowhere else.


Nuance never admit the problem is theirs they will produce a new v7 and charge for it in their annual refill the coffers money grab, I'm surprised that they haven't done it with High Sierra launch.

Dec 15, 2017 10:44 AM in response to Foucault's Swing

I also recently upgraded to Mac OS High Sierra and ever since I have had problems with my Dragon for Mac software.


It works normally when dictating sentences like the one above, but now I don’t have the ability to go back and edit any mistakes I make. I used to be able to say “scratch word” or “scratch that” and it would erase the previous word or last sentence dictated and let me replace it. Now all it does when I said it is move the cursor back before the word or phrase I am trying to erase. Very frustrating especially to someone like me with a disability.


I used Dragon for Mac to dictate this entire post and I’m happy it does work for the most part. But those editing functions were a major part of how I use the program and I hope someone out there is working on a fix for the problem.


Mid 2015 iMac 5K running Dragon for Mac version 6.0.8 (supposedly compatible with High Sierra)


Greg

No Dragon for Mac nor Enhanced Dictation

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