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The speech model won't download

Checked against v1.1.5, 12 September 2026.

tondi needs an internet connection the first time it runs, to download a speech-recognition model of about 460 MB. If that download fails or stalls, transcription can't start and the app says so. Everything below fixes that; after it succeeds once, tondi works offline.

Couldn't download the transcription model. tondi needs an internet connection the first time, and about 460 MB of free space.

Couldn't load the transcription model. It may have downloaded incompletely — check your internet connection and try again.

What to try, in order

  1. Check the connection and retry. Drop the video in again; the download starts over.
  2. Check free space. Standard needs about 460 MB. Best needs about 1.5 GB. Apple menu → About This Mac → Storage.
  3. On a work or school network, try another one. The model comes from huggingface.co, which some corporate networks block. A phone hotspot for the one download is enough; after that, no connection is needed.
  4. If it keeps failing at the same point, delete the partial download. In Finder, press ⇧⌘G and go to ~/Library/Application Support/tondi/models. Delete the folder for the tier you're using — models--Systran--faster-whisper-small for Standard — then try again.
  5. Switch tier for now. Fast downloads about 145 MB and is the quickest way to see whether the problem is the download or the network. Switch back to Standard afterwards.

What tondi downloads, and when

One model per accuracy tier, once: Fast about 145 MB, Standard about 460 MB, Best about 1.5 GB. They're stored in the folder above and never fetched again. Nothing about your video goes the other way — the privacy policy lists every connection the app makes.

Common questions

Does tondi download the model every time?

No. Once per accuracy tier, ever. After that, making clips needs no internet connection.

Does switching accuracy tiers download again?

Once per tier. Fast, Standard and Best each have their own model; the first time you use a tier it downloads, and never again.

Why does it need the internet at all, if nothing is uploaded?

The model is too large to ship inside a 111 MB app. It's downloaded once and then the app is self-contained.