RadDictate Chrome Extension — user guide

1 · Install & sign in

Until the Chrome Web Store listing is live, install manually — it takes two minutes:

Download the extension from your setup page and unzip it to a folder you'll keep (Chrome loads it from there — don't delete it).
Open chrome://extensions, switch on Developer mode (top right).
Click Load unpacked and pick the unzipped folder.
Click the puzzle-piece icon in the toolbar and pin RadDictate.

Click the icon and sign in with your email and password. Signing in also unlocks your end-to-end encrypted history — the same one-password rule as everywhere else (the mobile guide, §2, explains why the email reset is destructive).

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/01-popup-signin.png — popup sign-in

The popup before sign-in.

2 · Dictating into your RIS

The golden rule: text lands where your cursor is.

In your RIS, click into the box you want the report in.
Open the popup and press ⏺ START DICTATION (or just press F8 — see §3).
Dictate. Finish. The structured report is inserted at your cursor — mid-sentence if that's where you clicked.

On reporting systems with separate fields (e.g. APEX-style forms), RadDictate goes one better: findings are inserted into the findings box and the conclusion into the conclusion box, automatically.

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/02-report-tab.png — REPORT tab

The REPORT tab: dictate, phone, upload, proofread.

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/04-apex-insert.png — findings/conclusion split (demo form)

Findings and conclusion landing in their own fields.

Also on the REPORT tab: 📁 UPLOAD AUDIO transcribes an existing recording instead of live dictation.

3 · The on-page pill & F8

While dictating, a small floating pill appears on the page — your recording status (REC / PAUSED / NO SIGNAL) and controls, draggable anywhere. You don't need the popup open while you dictate.

F8 (or Numpad +) cycles start → pause → resume — hands stay on the keyboard, works even inside the RIS's own dialogs.
From the pill you can pause, listen back, overwrite a slip (the part being replaced is shown before you confirm), or DISCARD.
If transcription fails mid-flow, the pill offers RETRY and SAVE — your audio isn't lost.

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/03-dictation-live.png — pill while recording

The pill: dictation control without leaving the report.

4 · Dictate on phone

No microphone on the workstation — or one you wouldn't put near your mouth? Press 📱 DICTATE ON PHONE. Your phone (with the mobile app signed in) pops up a record prompt; you dictate on the phone, and the report arrives back in the browser and inserts exactly like live dictation. The result travels end-to-end encrypted.

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/09-phone-dictate.png — waiting for phone

The PC waiting while you dictate on the phone.

5 · Grab text & proofread

🔍 GRAB TEXT & PROOFREAD reads the report already on the page and gives it a second read: laterality slips ("right" in findings, "left" in conclusion), anatomic-site mismatches, internal contradictions. Findings are flagged for your review — nothing is ever changed for you. Use it on dictated reports, typed reports, anyone's reports.

6 · History: copy & transfer

The HISTORY tab lists your end-to-end encrypted reports from every device — the study you dictated on the phone in the car is here waiting. Tap a report to open it right there:

📋 COPY — full text to the clipboard.
➡ TRANSFER — the good one: inserts the report into the RIS exactly like live dictation, including the findings/conclusion split. Click into the target box first, then transfer.
← BACK — back to the list.

History auto-deletes after 14 days by default; the retention setting (1–60 days, or off) lives on this tab.

Clear is cloud-wide ✕ CLEAR HISTORY deletes your synced reports from the cloud — they vanish from your phone and desktop too, permanently.

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/05-history-list.png — history list

Cross-device history.

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/06-history-detail.png — report detail with COPY/TRANSFER

Open in place; copy or transfer.

7 · Audio backups (REC)

The 🎙 REC tab keeps local copies of your dictation audio — filter RAW / COMPACTED, export with 📦 ARCHIVE, remove with 🗑 DELETE.

Local-only Like on mobile, recordings are never uploaded. Clearing the browser profile or removing the extension deletes them permanently — ARCHIVE first if you want to keep any.

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/07-rec-tab.png — REC tab

Local audio backups.

8 · Templates (TPL)

Same templates, everywhere: the 📋 TPL tab syncs with your account, so a template built here works on the phone and desktop too.

⭐ LOAD MY STARTER TEMPLATES — your organization's set if it has one, else the built-in defaults.
A template is Name + Body; say the name while dictating to invoke it. Extra spoken triggers live under Advanced.
📥 IMPORT JSON / 📤 EXPORT — the same file format as mobile and desktop.

SCREENSHOT · img/extension/08-tpl-tab.png — template editor

Templates: name is the trigger.

9 · Troubleshooting

"The text went to the wrong place." The report lands at the last cursor position — click into the correct box before starting (or before TRANSFER).
"I got signed out." One extension per account by default; signing in on another PC signs this one out. Ask your admin about device limits.
"Chrome warns about developer-mode extensions." Expected with the manual install; it disappears once the Web Store version is your install path.
Updating a manual install: download the new zip from the setup page, unzip over the same folder, then hit the refresh icon on chrome://extensions.
F8 does nothing on a page: click once anywhere in the page first (Chrome only delivers keys to focused pages), then F8.

Something this guide doesn't answer? Contact us or use the feedback form.