diff --git a/openless-all/app/crates/openless-core/src/provider_rules.rs b/openless-all/app/crates/openless-core/src/provider_rules.rs
index 01bd1ec0..6ad7919b 100644
--- a/openless-all/app/crates/openless-core/src/provider_rules.rs
+++ b/openless-all/app/crates/openless-core/src/provider_rules.rs
@@ -125,6 +125,10 @@ pub enum ValidationProbe {
     Unsupported,
     AsrSilence,
     AsrSilenceAllowsNoFinal,
+    /// Local engine probe (Apple Speech): the host injects its native
+    /// transcription engine and validation runs the same silence WAV through it,
+    /// exercising authorization and recognizer availability for real.
+    AsrNativeSilence,
     AsrNonSilent,
     StepfunNoSpeech,
     LlmText,
@@ -185,7 +189,14 @@ fn provider_descriptor_with_label(
             None,
             None,
             AuthRequirement::None,
-            ValidationProbe::Unsupported,
+            // Apple Speech starts instantly and needs no download, so its card
+            // can run a real validation probe; download-based local engines stay
+            // unverifiable here and report readiness from the local model page.
+            if id == "apple-speech" {
+                ValidationProbe::AsrNativeSilence
+            } else {
+                ValidationProbe::Unsupported
+            },
         ),
         ProviderKind::Asr => (
             default_asr_endpoint(&id),
@@ -1187,6 +1198,21 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!dashscope.static_models.is_empty());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn apple_speech_probes_natively_while_download_engines_stay_unsupported() {
+        let apple = provider_descriptor(ProviderKind::Asr, "apple-speech").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(apple.validation_probe, ValidationProbe::AsrNativeSilence);
+        assert_eq!(apple.auth_requirement, AuthRequirement::None);
+        for provider in ["local-whisper", "local-qwen3", "sherpa-onnx-local"] {
+            assert_eq!(
+                provider_descriptor(ProviderKind::Asr, provider)
+                    .unwrap()
+                    .validation_probe,
+                ValidationProbe::Unsupported
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn custom_llm_auth_depends_on_the_effective_endpoint() {
         assert!(!api_key_required(
diff --git a/openless-all/app/crates/openless-core/src/provider_service.rs b/openless-all/app/crates/openless-core/src/provider_service.rs
index d4a89c3f..102f657d 100644
--- a/openless-all/app/crates/openless-core/src/provider_service.rs
+++ b/openless-all/app/crates/openless-core/src/provider_service.rs
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ pub struct ProviderService {
     credentials: Arc<dyn CredentialStore>,
     task_spawner: Arc<dyn TaskSpawner>,
     transport: Arc<dyn ProviderTransport>,
+    /// Host-owned native engines (e.g. Apple Speech). Only consulted by the
+    /// [`ValidationProbe::AsrNativeSilence`] probe; cloud probes ignore it.
+    native_transcription: Option<Arc<dyn TranscriptionEngine>>,
 }
 
 impl ProviderService {
@@ -72,9 +75,22 @@ impl ProviderService {
             credentials,
             task_spawner,
             transport,
+            native_transcription: None,
         }
     }
 
+    /// Inject the host's native transcription engine so local providers whose
+    /// descriptor probes [`ValidationProbe::AsrNativeSilence`] (Apple Speech)
+    /// validate through the real engine — exercising authorization and
+    /// recognizer availability — instead of reporting unavailable.
+    pub fn with_native_transcription(
+        mut self,
+        native_transcription: Arc<dyn TranscriptionEngine>,
+    ) -> Self {
+        self.native_transcription = Some(native_transcription);
+        self
+    }
+
     async fn resolve(&self, request: ProviderRequest) -> Result<ResolvedProvider, BackendError> {
         let (namespace, slot, channel_kind) = match request.kind {
             ProviderKind::Asr => (
@@ -227,10 +243,24 @@ impl ProviderService {
         let session_id = SessionId::new();
         match resolved.kind {
             ProviderKind::Asr => {
-                let engine = SharedCloudTranscriptionEngine::with_task_spawner(
-                    Arc::clone(&self.credentials),
-                    Arc::clone(&self.task_spawner),
-                );
+                // Native probes run through the host-registered engine so the
+                // check exercises the same engine dictation uses (Apple Speech
+                // authorization + recognizer availability); silence probes for
+                // cloud providers keep using the shared cloud engine.
+                let engine: Arc<dyn TranscriptionEngine> = match probe {
+                    ValidationProbe::AsrNativeSilence => {
+                        self.native_transcription.clone().ok_or_else(|| {
+                            BackendError::new(
+                                BackendErrorCode::Unsupported,
+                                "host native transcription engine is not configured",
+                            )
+                        })?
+                    }
+                    _ => Arc::new(SharedCloudTranscriptionEngine::with_task_spawner(
+                        Arc::clone(&self.credentials),
+                        Arc::clone(&self.task_spawner),
+                    )),
+                };
                 let session = tokio::select! {
                     _ = wait_for_cancellation(cancellation.clone()) => return Err(cancelled_request()),
                     result = engine.start(session_id, context, Arc::new(DiscardTextStream)) => {
@@ -1037,6 +1067,70 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!request.contains("authorization:"));
     }
 
+    /// Minimal host-engine fixture: accepts any PCM and finishes successfully,
+    /// mirroring what the Apple Speech engine returns for a silence probe.
+    struct FixtureNativeEngine;
+
+    struct FixtureNativeSession;
+
+    impl crate::ports::AudioConsumer for FixtureNativeSession {
+        fn consume_pcm_chunk(&self, _pcm: &[u8]) {}
+    }
+
+    impl crate::ports::TranscriptionSession for FixtureNativeSession {
+        fn finish(
+            &self,
+        ) -> BoxFuture<'static, Result<crate::ports::TranscriptOutput, BackendError>> {
+            Box::pin(async {
+                Ok(crate::ports::TranscriptOutput {
+                    text: String::new(),
+                    duration_ms: 500,
+                })
+            })
+        }
+
+        fn cancel(&self) -> BoxFuture<'static, Result<(), BackendError>> {
+            Box::pin(async { Ok(()) })
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl TranscriptionEngine for FixtureNativeEngine {
+        fn start(
+            &self,
+            _session_id: SessionId,
+            context: Arc<DictationContext>,
+            _partials: Arc<dyn TextStreamSink>,
+        ) -> BoxFuture<'static, Result<Arc<dyn crate::ports::TranscriptionSession>, BackendError>>
+        {
+            assert_eq!(context.asr.provider_type, "apple-speech");
+            Box::pin(async {
+                Ok(Arc::new(FixtureNativeSession) as Arc<dyn crate::ports::TranscriptionSession>)
+            })
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[tokio::test]
+    async fn apple_speech_validates_through_the_injected_native_engine() {
+        let credentials = Arc::new(InMemoryCredentialStore::default());
+        let channel =
+            create_channel_with_values(&credentials, ChannelKind::Asr, "apple-speech", &[]).await;
+        let request = ProviderRequest {
+            thinking_enabled: false,
+            kind: ProviderKind::Asr,
+            channel_id: Some(channel),
+        };
+
+        // Without the host engine the native probe stays explicitly unsupported.
+        let without = ProviderService::new(credentials.clone(), Arc::new(crate::TokioTaskSpawner));
+        let error = without.validate(request.clone()).await.unwrap_err();
+        assert_eq!(error.code, BackendErrorCode::Unsupported);
+
+        // With the engine injected the probe runs against the real engine port.
+        let with = ProviderService::new(credentials, Arc::new(crate::TokioTaskSpawner))
+            .with_native_transcription(Arc::new(FixtureNativeEngine));
+        with.validate(request).await.unwrap();
+    }
+
     #[tokio::test]
     async fn custom_llm_without_key_reaches_its_explicit_endpoint() {
         let (endpoint, request) = spawn_http_response(
diff --git a/openless-all/app/src-tauri/src/core_adapters.rs b/openless-all/app/src-tauri/src/core_adapters.rs
index 2ef82fa7..f5e738a9 100644
--- a/openless-all/app/src-tauri/src/core_adapters.rs
+++ b/openless-all/app/src-tauri/src/core_adapters.rs
@@ -184,6 +184,9 @@ pub(crate) fn backend_dependencies(
     }
     let polisher: Arc<dyn TextPolisher> = polisher;
     let auxiliary_transcription: Arc<dyn TranscriptionEngine> = transcription.clone();
+    // Provider validation for local engines (Apple Speech) probes through the
+    // same router dictation uses, so the check exercises the real engine.
+    let provider_native_transcription: Arc<dyn TranscriptionEngine> = transcription.clone();
     let auxiliary_polisher: Arc<dyn TextPolisher> =
         Arc::new(openless_core::SharedAuxiliaryTextPolisher::new(
             Arc::clone(&credential_store),
@@ -227,10 +230,13 @@ pub(crate) fn backend_dependencies(
     dependencies
         .services
         .configure_auxiliary_runtime(auxiliary_polisher, auxiliary_transcription);
-    dependencies.services.provider = Arc::new(openless_core::ProviderService::new(
-        Arc::clone(&credential_store),
-        Arc::clone(&task_spawner),
-    ));
+    dependencies.services.provider = Arc::new(
+        openless_core::ProviderService::new(
+            Arc::clone(&credential_store),
+            Arc::clone(&task_spawner),
+        )
+        .with_native_transcription(provider_native_transcription),
+    );
     dependencies
         .services
         .configure_coding_agent_process(Arc::new(
diff --git a/openless-all/app/src/lib/ipc/mock-provider-descriptors.json b/openless-all/app/src/lib/ipc/mock-provider-descriptors.json
index 14c4d49b..4b5a47f9 100644
--- a/openless-all/app/src/lib/ipc/mock-provider-descriptors.json
+++ b/openless-all/app/src/lib/ipc/mock-provider-descriptors.json
@@ -541,7 +541,7 @@
     "defaultEndpoint": null,
     "defaultModel": null,
     "authRequirement": "none",
-    "validationProbe": "unsupported",
+    "validationProbe": "asr_native_silence",
     "staticModels": [],
     "defaultRequestFormat": null,
     "supportedRequestFormats": []