Permissions
On first launch, Boswell requests the permissions it needs to capture audio from your Mac. This page explains what each one does, where to grant or revoke it, and what Boswell does not need.
What Boswell asks for
Section titled “What Boswell asks for”Microphone
Section titled “Microphone”What it enables: Boswell uses your Mac’s microphone (built-in or external) to capture your voice and any in-room audio — people in the same physical room as you.
Why it’s needed: Without microphone access, Boswell can’t record your side of a conversation or any in-person audio.
Where to grant it: macOS will ask automatically on first use. If you accidentally denied it, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and enable Boswell.
System audio
Section titled “System audio”What it enables: Boswell captures system audio — the audio playing through your Mac’s speakers — so it can hear the other side of a Zoom, Meet, or Teams call, or any other audio on your Mac.
Why it’s needed: Without system-audio access, Boswell can only hear your microphone, not the people you’re talking to.
Where to grant it: Boswell asks for system-audio recording during setup, and macOS shows the prompt right then — the same way it asks for the microphone. To change it later, open System Settings → Privacy & Security and find Boswell under the system-audio recording permission.
What Boswell does not do
Section titled “What Boswell does not do”- No screen recording. Boswell doesn’t request the Screen Recording permission, and never captures, stores, or transmits video or screenshots of your display.
- No meeting bot. Boswell captures audio directly from your Mac. It does not join calls as a participant, send invitations, or appear in your call’s participant list. Other attendees see nothing new.
- No audio upload by default. Your recordings stay on your Mac. The on-device transcription (Apple’s built-in speech recognition) and (with Apple Intelligence) summaries all run locally. See What stays on-device for the full picture.
Checking or revoking permissions
Section titled “Checking or revoking permissions”You can review or revoke Boswell’s permissions at any time in System Settings → Privacy & Security:
- Microphone — to revoke mic access.
- System audio recording — to revoke system-audio access.
If you revoke a permission Boswell needs, it will stop capturing that audio source until you re-enable the permission.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”Once permissions are granted, you’re ready to record. See Record your first meeting.