1. Download and install
Download the Amlin disk image from https://amlin.ai/download.html.
Open the .dmg and drag Amlin onto the Applications shortcut.
Launch Amlin from Applications or Spotlight.
Amlin is signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a Gatekeeper warning. If macOS says the app is from an unidentified developer, the download was likely incomplete — re-download from the official link rather than working around the warning.
2. Meet the menu bar
Amlin lives in your menu bar, not the Dock. Clicking the menu bar icon gives you:
Your next few calendar meetings, one click from a note
Recording status, with Stop
New note + record (⌘⇧N)
Open Amlin
Dictation status, Start/Pause, Dictation Settings, and Dictation History
Settings lives in the main window: click the account menu at the bottom of the sidebar for ⚙ Settings, ✦ Custom Dictionary, and ? Getting Started.
3. Run through onboarding
On first launch, Amlin walks you through:
A privacy intro — what it captures and what it never does.
Audio permissions — Microphone plus Screen & System Audio Recording. Amlin verifies the grant actually works (a granted-but-silent system audio track is a known macOS quirk it detects for you).
Sign in with Google — your free account, which also connects your calendar read-only. You can skip this and add it later.
Your first note — with the option to see a worked sample first.
4. Turn on Launch at login (recommended)
Settings → General → Launch at login. Amlin can't offer a pre-meeting nudge or a one-key dictation hotkey if it isn't running, so most people leave this on.
Keeping Amlin up to date
Amlin updates itself. It checks shortly after launch and about once an hour, downloads in the background, and installs when you quit. You can check manually in Settings → General → Software updates → Check now, or from the Amlin → Check for Updates… menu.