---
title: "Aila for Mac"
url: https://docs.aila.fyi/desktop
source: https://docs.aila.fyi/llms.txt
---

# Aila for Mac

Aila Desktop is a menu bar app that records calls on your Mac. There is no bot in the call. It captures your microphone and the other side of the call on separate channels, so Aila knows who said what. Recordings feed the [Intake Agent](https://docs.aila.fyi/agents/intake), which builds the file and updates your CRM, and the [Call Compliance Agent](https://docs.aila.fyi/agents/compliance), which scores the call.

---

## What you need

- A Mac with Apple silicon, running macOS 14.4 or later.
- An Aila account. Sign-in goes through the Aila web app.
- Permission for the app to use your microphone and capture call audio. See [Install and sign in](#install-and-sign-in).

---

## Install and sign in

1. Download the app from [withaila.com/download/mac](https://www.withaila.com/download/mac). Open the `.dmg` and drag **Aila Desktop** to your **Applications** folder.
2. Open Aila Desktop. The setup screen, **Unlock the full experience**, lists the permissions to enable.
3. Click **Enable** next to **Capture what you say** (microphone) and **Capture what others say** (system audio from calls and meetings). Approve each macOS prompt.
4. Click **Enable** next to **Connect your Aila account**. A browser tab opens on the Aila web app showing **Connect Aila Desktop**.
5. Click **Approve & Open Desktop**. Aila Desktop signs in.
6. Choose whether to **Open Aila when you log in**, and whether you want call notifications.

If macOS later asks for call-detection or screen-recording access, approve it in **Preferences**. The **Recording check** in **Preferences** shows the status of **Microphone**, **Call audio access**, **Screen recording**, and **Call detection**, and each row has an **Open** button that jumps to the right macOS setting.

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## What it captures

- **Two-channel audio:** your microphone is channel 1 and system audio (the other side of the call) is channel 2. Aila transcribes the channels separately.
- **Call detection:** Aila watches which apps are using your microphone. It recognizes the Phone app (iPhone calls relayed to your Mac), FaceTime, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex, RingCentral, Dialpad, Aircall, GoTo, Slack huddles, Discord, WhatsApp, and calls in a web browser (Chrome, Safari, Arc, Brave, Firefox, and Edge). Nothing is recorded until a recording starts.
- **Automatic upload:** recordings upload to your Aila workspace for transcription, scoring, and CRM sync.

---

## Related

- [Capturing calls on Mac](https://docs.aila.fyi/desktop/capturing-calls): start a recording, choose a recording mode, and fix problems
- [Capture calls](https://docs.aila.fyi/capture)
- Open **Calls** in the web app to review processed desktop recordings.