speech to text apple

How to Convert Voice to Text on an iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide

Converting voice to text on an iPhone is a simple process that involves using the built-in dictation feature. By tapping on the microphone icon on the keyboard, users can speak into their device and have their words automatically transcribed into text. This functionality is handy for sending quick messages or taking notes without typing.

After completing the action, the transcribed text will appear in the text field, ready for editing or sending. The iPhone will use its voice recognition software to convert your spoken words into written text accurately.

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced world, efficiency is key. Whether you’re a busy professional trying to stay on top of emails or a student taking notes in class, sometimes typing out everything just isn’t feasible. That’s where voice-to-text technology comes in, and for iPhone users, it’s built right into the device. Converting voice to text on an iPhone can save you time, reduce the strain of typing on a small keyboard, and even help capture thoughts when you’re on the go.

This feature is particularly relevant for those who have disabilities that make typing difficult or impossible. For others, it’s a matter of convenience and speed. Regardless of why you might use it, knowing how to convert voice to text on your iPhone is a useful skill that can improve your productivity and communication.

Step by Step Tutorial on How to Convert Voice to Text on an iPhone

Before we dive into the steps, let’s understand what we’re aiming for here. By following these steps, you will enable your iPhone to take your spoken words and turn them into written text in any text field that brings up the keyboard.

Step 1: Enable Dictation

Go to your iPhone’s Settings, tap General, tap Keyboard, and then toggle on the switch for Enable Dictation.

Dictation is a feature that needs to be turned on before you can use it. It uses Apple’s servers to process your voice and convert it to text. Ensure you’re connected to the internet when you’re using dictation for the best results.

Step 2: Use the Microphone Icon

When you’re ready to speak, tap the microphone icon on the keyboard.

The microphone icon is usually located to the left of the spacebar on your iPhone’s keyboard. Tapping it will signal to your iPhone that you’re about to dictate text.

Step 3: Speak Clearly into the Microphone

Begin speaking clearly and at a moderate pace. Your iPhone will start transcribing your words into text.

Remember to enunciate your words clearly and avoid speaking too quickly. This helps the voice recognition software accurately transcribe your speech.

Step 4: Review and Edit the Transcribed Text

After you finish speaking, tap the keyboard icon to return to typing mode and review your transcribed text. Make any necessary edits.

The dictation feature is pretty accurate, but it’s not perfect. Always review the text to ensure there are no errors before sending or saving it.

Benefit	Explanation
Convenience	Dictation on the iPhone allows for hands-free typing, which is perfect for multitasking or when your hands are otherwise occupied.
Speed	Speaking is generally faster than typing, so dictation can save you time when composing messages or taking notes.
Accessibility	For individuals with disabilities that make typing difficult, voice-to-text technology can be an essential tool for communication.

Drawback	Explanation
Requires Internet	Dictation on the iPhone requires an internet connection to work since it uses Apple’s servers to process the speech.
Background Noise Issues	The accuracy of voice-to-text can be affected by background noise, which can lead to errors in transcription.
Limited Punctuation and Formatting	Dictating punctuation and formatting can be awkward and may not always be recognized correctly by the software.

Additional Information

Using voice-to-text on an iPhone can be a game-changer for many users, but there are a few tips to keep in mind for the best experience. For one, be aware of your surroundings. If you’re in a noisy environment, the iPhone may have trouble picking up your voice accurately. Also, consider the privacy of your conversations – speaking aloud may not be the best option in public spaces.

Another useful tip is to learn the commands for adding punctuation or special formatting. For example, saying “comma” or “period” while dictating will add the respective punctuation marks. This can save time during the editing process. Additionally, you can add a new line by saying “new line” or “next line.”

Lastly, remember that while converting voice to text on your iPhone is convenient, it’s not always the most appropriate method for every situation. Consider the context and choose the best tool for the job.

Enable Dictation in Settings
Use the Microphone Icon on the Keyboard
Speak Clearly into the Microphone
Review and Edit the Transcribed Text

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the microphone icon is not showing on my keyboard.

Make sure Dictation is enabled in your settings. If it is and you still don’t see the microphone, try restarting your iPhone.

Can I use voice-to-text with third-party apps?

Yes, most apps that utilize the iPhone’s keyboard will allow you to use the dictation feature.

How much data does voice-to-text use?

The data usage is minimal, but it’s best to use the feature while connected to Wi-Fi if you have a limited data plan.

Can I dictate in other languages?

Yes, the iPhone supports dictation in multiple languages. You may need to add the language in your keyboard settings first.

Is there a time limit to how long I can dictate?

There is a short pause limit, so if you stop speaking for a while, it may end the dictation session. However, you can tap the microphone icon again to continue.

Converting voice to text on an iPhone is a powerful tool that can significantly enhance your productivity and communication. Whether you’re a professional, student, or someone with typing difficulties, mastering this feature can make life a little easier. Remember to speak clearly, be mindful of background noise, and always review your text for errors. With practice, you’ll be dictating like a pro in no time. So why not give it a try and see how it can benefit you?

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

7 Best speech to text apps for iPhone in 2024

Updated on:

Some people can type hell for leather, but we have to agree that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. How would it be if you could type as fast as you speak? Well, why think when you can execute! While iPhone’s native Notes app can handle your basic transcribing needs, it lacks added functionality.

So, here’s a list of the best speech-to-text apps for your iPhone!

dictate2us Record & Transcribe
Rev Voice Recorder & Memos
Day One Journal

1. Evernote: Notes organizer – Editor’s choice

Evernote is a widely used application for note-taking. However, it serves multiple purposes like clipping articles, scanning documents, and also allows adding content (pictures, videos, audio, etc.) with notes.

Open the virtual keyboard and tap the mic below the return key to dictate text. You can now dictate, and it’ll not only be converted but also sync across your devices.

If you’re a student, you can use the app to take notes, track them, and even create separate notebooks. Further, you can also bring people, projects, and ideas together with shared Spaces. This is especially helpful for businesses or if you are working on a group project. Evernote also has multiple other features and is free to use.

Scan and convert handwritten notes
Transcription works flawlessly
Numerous useful templates
Note linking
Excellent organization system
Cannot save data offline
Lean cloud storage
Cannot sync with more than 2 devices with the basic plan

Price : Free (In-App Purchases start at $10.00)

2. dictate2us Record & Transcribe – Fastest transcription service

dictate2us Record Transcribe app for iPhone

Dicatate2us is one of the leaders in transcription services, and you can get the audio transcribed within an hour regardless of the time, 365 days a year. You can record letters, reports, case notes, interviews, etc.

All you need to do is save a recording which will get uploaded to the platform. A person, yes, an actual person, will sit and transcribe the audio, after which an editor will check if there are errors, and then the Google doc file will be sent to you.

Dicatate2us can be downloaded for free, and you get a $15 free trial credit. After the trial ends, you are charged a minute rate depending on the turnaround time. D2U uses military-grade encryption, so you need not worry about confidential data being hacked.

Military-grade encryption
Fast turnaround time
$15 Trial credit
Can’t transcribe instantly

Price : Free ($15 trial credit)

3. Transcribe: Speech to Text – Instant transcription

Transcribe Speech to Text app for iPhone

Some people repeatedly listen to their voice memos as reminders. However, listening to the whole message to get to something you want to hear might be a time-consuming event, and Transcribe comes in. It is among the fastest transcription apps. A tap of a button is all it takes to transcribe your audio or video files.

It lets you transcribe any voice or video file into text. All is done with the help of AI. You get 15 minutes of the free trial, after which you will need to either upgrade to the Pro version or buy add-on hours. Transcribe Pro offers features like exporting files in TXT, PDF, and DOCX formats. You also get 5 hours of transcription every month and can save up to 50GB of files on its cloud.

Instant transcription
Supports both audio and video files
Supports multiple file formats
Not great for longer duration transcriptions
Users have reported frequent app crashes

Price : Free (In-app purchase starts at $4.99)

4. Rev Voice Recorder & Memos – Simplified design

Rev Voice is yet another transcription service that people have employed to transcribe audio. The company claims a 99% plus accuracy rate alongside fast turnaround times. You can get a 30-minute recording transcribed under 12 hours.

The Rev Voice app has a clean and minimal user interface. Besides transcribing audio, it also lets you record audio, trim the audio, etc. You can use the recorder in the background, and it will automatically pause when you receive a call.

While the application is free to download, Rev charges 1 credit for a minute of audio transcribed, and if you avail of their services through their website, it’ll cost you $1.50 for a minute of audio transcribed. You can also view the progress of your order, and once done, you’ll receive it in your email inbox and the app.

Affordable rates
Effortless editing
High accuracy rate
The subscription model would make the service more appealing
Turnaround times are longer

Price : Free (1 credit costs $1.99)

5: Dictation: Speech to text – Translate your transcription

Dictation serves one purpose, converting speech to text, and it does the job quite decently. But there are instances where it might miss a few words. You can not only record audio in the app but also import audio files.

Further, translation is a unique feature offered by Dictation. It supports over 40 languages. All you have to do is tap a button to translate the transcribed text.

The app also has iCloud Synchronization. Once turned on, you can dictate text from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, etc.

Besides, you can also share the text across several social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. However, the app is infested with ads. You will need to upgrade to the pro version to get rid of ads, costing $17.49 per year.

Translation with support for 40 languages
Works flawlessly across multiple iOS devices
Cluttered UI
Infested with ads

Price : Free (Pro version costs $4.99 per month)

6. Day One Journal: Private diary – Journalling made fun

If you want to get into the habit of maintaining a daily journal but have been postponing the idea for a long time because you find writing to be a tedious process, Day One Journal is here to help. You can add notes to your journal at any time of the day as the app provides speech-to-text services.

It’s not just words; you can also add videos and images alongside handwritten entries or drawings to your journal. However, this feature is limited to the premium version. You can also take notes from your Apple watch. If that was not enough, you could also send text messages or emails to your journals. Pretty impressive, right?

Easy to use
Supports and integrates images, videos, etc., in the journal
Can only be used as a diary

Price : Free (Premium costs $5.99 per month)

7. Otter: Transcribe voice notes – Best for businesses

Otter Transcribe Voice Notes app for iPhone

Otter works flawlessly for transcribing text and is an excellent tool for personal use. But it shines more when put to use in a corporate environment. You can automatically take notes (through speech to text), save these notes, and share them with everyone on the team.

Another great feature of Otter is that it provides live captioning to the deaf or people with special needs. The app also lets users highlight text, and the punctuation is quite accurate.

The integration of Otter with iOS helps you start recording through Siri shortcuts and syncs notes with the iOS calendar, contacts, etc. You can also record with AirPods. The app offers all these features for a limited amount of time as a free trial, after which the Pro subscription offers 6000 transcription minutes per month. A great overall app for businesses!

Caters to specially-abled users
Great iOS integration
The free plan is good for personal use
Transcription is a hit or miss for longer audio files
No support for images in notes

Price : Free (Premium Costs $16.99 per month)

Wrapping up!

Well, this was my list of the best speech-to-text apps for iPhone and iPad, which are beneficial for both students and professionals. If you found the right speech-to-text app that suits your requirements, share your thoughts in the comments below!

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If you have a complex idea you'd like to jot down quickly on your iPhone or iPad, you can simply speak it with your voice thanks to Apple's built-in dictation feature. Here's how to use it.

Any time you're in an app where you can input text with the keyboard, you can use voice dictation instead of typing. To do so, tap the text input field so that your on-screen keyboard pops up. Next, tap the small microphone button located to the left of the space bar.

Tap the microphone button on your iPhone or iPad keyboard.

(If you don't see the microphone icon on your keyboard, make sure that Dictation is enabled on your device . To do so, launch Settings, then navigate to General > Keyboard and turn "Enable Dictation" on. And if your on-screen keyboard doesn't appear , then you likely have an external Bluetooth keyboard connected.)

After tapping the microphone button, the on-screen keyboard will be replaced with a moving waveform made out of lines that change based on how loudly you're talking. As you speak, words will appear on the screen once your device has recognized them.

An example of dictation in action on the iPhone.

When you're all done speaking, tap the keyboard button at the bottom of the screen, and dictation mode will end.

When you're done dictating, tap the tiny keyboard button.

The on-screen keyboard will reappear, and you can use it to add to or edit your dictation input. If you ever need to get back into dictation mode, just tap the microphone button again.

While using dictation on the iPhone, you might wonder how to do things like start a new line or enter punctuation. In those cases, you'll need to speak out your commands or the names of the punctuation characters. Here are some examples.

Numbers: If you'd like to enter a number as a numeral instead of as a word, say "numeral" before you speak the number. For example, saying "numeral 4" will print a "4" on the screen rather than the word "four."
Punctuation and Symbols: If you want to use punctuation, say the name of the punctuation character. For example, "period," "comma," "question mark," "exclamation mark," and "hyphen" all produce their special equivalent characters on the screen instead of the words themselves. Similarly, you can say "asterisk," "ampersand," "hashtag," and more to get the proper symbols on the screen.
Line Breaks: To go to a new line (like pressing Return on a keyboard), say "new line." You can also say "new paragraph" to insert a new paragraph break.
Emoticons: You can speak out several old-school emoticons, such as "smiley face" :-), "frowny face" :-(, and "winky face" ;-), and they will appear on the screen as the proper symbols.
Capital Letters: To capitalize a single letter, say "cap," then the letter. To turn on capitalizing the first letter of every word, say "caps on" (and disable with "caps off"). To make the next word entirely capitalized, say "all caps" before you speak the word. And to switch caps lock on, say "all caps on." You can disable it by saying "all caps off."

When you dictate on your iPhone or iPad, be aware that recordings of your voice and other data are being sent to Apple if you are connected to the internet. That's because Apple's ever-improving voice recognition algorithms in the cloud can generally do a better job than an on-device solution. Apple claims that this dictation data is not linked to your Apple account and is not sold or used to build a marketing profile.

If you are offline, dictation will still work, but only in your region's main language. Still, you might find that it doesn't work as well as the online version. If absolute privacy is an issue, you can avoid using dictation or disable dictation completely in Settings by visiting General > Keyboard and switching "Enable Dictation" to "off."

Flip the switch beside "Enable Dictation" to off.

Still, Dictation on the iPhone is a powerful feature to have, and it works very well compared to dictation technologies of the past, so experiment and have fun!

Related: How to Remove the Microphone Button from Your iPhone Keyboard

iPhone & iPad

iPhone Dictation: How to Use Voice-to-Text

These days, hands-free iPhone operations are easier than ever. Siri commands can take care of almost all your iPhone dictation needs. But if you want to mostly dictate text instead of using a keyboard , you can also enable dictation on your iOS device. We'll show you how to send texts and emails via Siri, how to enable dictation, and more.

Related: How to Search Message Conversations on iPhone: iMessage, Facebook & Whatsapp

How to Use Siri Text-to-Speech to Send a Text

How to Enable Dictation on Your iPhone

Common Voice-to-Text Commands for Dictation

Talk-to-text on your iPhone is incredibly helpful when sending a text message. To send a text through Siri:

Start dictating right away, or wait for Siri to respond with, "What do you want to say?"

You can also try using Siri to add events to the Calendar app, create reminders in the Reminders app, and even dictate a brief email.

How to Enable iPhone Dictation

If you want to use your voice-to-text on iPhone to do more than send a quick text or add an item to a list, you'll want to enable iPhone dictation. This will allow you to more easily use voice typing to compose longer messages, create entire lists in Notes or Reminders, edit events in the Calendar app, and more. You can use dictation in most apps that have a keyboard. For more great iPhone talk-to-text tricks, check out our free Tip of the Day !

Here's how to enable dictation, also known as voice-to-text, on your iPhone:

Now you're ready to dictate your response by using the voice-to-text iPhone commands. Frustratingly, there is no voice command to delete mistakes. If you want to delete something you'll either have to start a whole new note or text or tap the screen to select the text you want to replace and then tap the microphone to dictate the corrections.

Here's a short list of voice commands we've found useful with both Siri and dictation:

quote … end quote: to put quotations around a phrase say, "Quote," then say the phrase, and then say, "End Quote" to close the quotation.
new paragraph: begins a new paragraph.
new line: begins a new line of text.
smiley: inserts :-)
frowny: inserts :-(
winky: inserts ;-)

These commands will help you go hands-free with your texts, notes, and more. Give these tips a shot and with practice, you'll have Siri or dictation doing the work for you in no time! Next, learn what to do if iOS 16 Dictation isn't working .

Author Details

Conner Carey

Conner Carey's writing can be found at conpoet.com . She is currently writing a book, creating lots of content, and writing poetry via @conpoet on Instagram. She lives in an RV full-time with her mom, Jan and dog, Jodi as they slow-travel around the country.

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Dictation in iOS 16 is so good you’ll want to use it every day–here’s how

You’ve been able to dictate text to your iPhone instead of typing for a very long time, and over the years it has occasionally gotten better. But with iOS 16 , the dictation features are taking a huge step forward in usability—so much so that you might actually start using it all the time. As long as you have an iPhone with an A12 Bionic chip or better (that’s an iPhone XS), you’ll be able to seamlessly talk and type or edit, which makes the entire dictation “workflow” a lot smoother. Automatic punctuation can add commas, periods, and question marks. And you can add emoji via voice, too.

Here’s how to make the most of these awesome new dictation features to speed up your typing.

Just tap the mic

You start using dictation the same way you would in earlier versions of iOS: just tap the microphone icon in the lower right corner of your keyboard. You’ll notice in Messages, the mic icon is right in the text entry field, replacing the old voice memo button.

Then, simply start talking. In nearly any text entry area other than Search fields, words will start appearing as you speak but the keyboard will remain on screen, with the microphone button highlighted.

While you’re speaking, you can switch to typing at any time, then just resume speaking to keep entering text that way. Alternate between typing and speaking freely–once you get the hang of it, it’s quite fast. You can double-tap words to select them, press and hold on the space bar to move around the cursor like a trackpad; all the usual text entry controls are always right there, you can just speak now in addition to tapping and swiping.

You’ll notice a small “stop dictating” microphone icon right next to the text cursor. Tap that, or the microphone icon at the bottom of the keyboard, to stop dictating. Dictation will also stop automatically if there’s a long stretch of silence.

Talking tips

Dictation works best if you annunciate clearly and speak at a regular pace. It’s a little different than speaking casually, but it’s worth the effort for the improved speed.

There are a host of commands you can give to format text or type special characters. While the new auto-punctuation feature (see below) will attempt to correctly insert commas, periods, and question marks, other punctuation can be added just by speaking. Here’s a list of some of the most useful formatting commands. Just speak them as you talk, such as “In iOS 16 comma dictation is incredibly useful exclamation point”.


New line	Move to the next line
New paragraph	Start a new paragraph
Cap	Capitalise the next word
Caps on … caps off	Capitalise a section of text
All caps	Make the next word all uppercase
“Period” or “full stop”	Place a “.” at the end of a sentence
“Dot” or “point”	.
“Ellipsis” or “dot dot dot”	…
Comma	,
“Quote” or “quotation mark”	“
“Quote … end quote” or “quote … close quote”	Place quotes around a section of text
Apostrophe	‘
Exclamation point	!
Inverted exclamation point	¡
Question mark	?
Inverted question mark	¿
Ampersand	&
Asterisk	*
Open parenthesis	(
Close parenthesis	)
Open bracket	[
Close bracket	]
Dash or hyphen	–
Em dash	—
Underscore	_
Percent sign	%
Copyright sign	©
Registered sign	®
Dollar sign	$
Cent sign	¢
Euro sign	€

Yen sign	¥
Degree sign	∘
Caret	^
At sign	@
Pound sign	#
Greater than sign	>
Less than sign	<
Forward slash	/
Back slash
Vertical bar	\|

You have been able to add a couple of different emojis in dictation for years, mostly just smiles and frowns, but iOS 16 greatly expands the number. You’ll have to experiment a little to find which descriptions correspond with the right emoji, but the key is to say “emoji” after it. If you want to type the word “shrug,” say “shrug.” But if you want to type 🤷‍♂️ then say “shrug emoji.”

Important settings

There are two important settings to know about for dictation. Open Settings > General > Keyboard and then scroll down to the Dictation section to find them. The first will turn off the dictation feature entirely. This is generally not necessary–Apple will sometimes send voice samples back to its servers to improve dictation quality, but the phrases are brief and anonymized, it’s not like there’s an open mic recording your every word. Simply not entering dictation mode is enough to keep it inactive.

The other toggle turns the auto-punctuation feature on or off. This is a new feature for iOS 16 and it attempts to insert commas, periods, and question marks intelligently by paying attention to your phrasing and tone of voice. It’s a little hit-and-miss in the iOS 16 beta, so if you find that whatever time this saves you is offset by all the corrections you make, just turn it off.

Author: Jason Cross , Senior Editor, Macworld

Jason has written about technology for more than 25 years - first in the gaming press, then focusing on enthusiast PCs and general technology. He enjoys learning how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.

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How to use voice dictation on an iphone to send texts & emails.

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Apple's iOS comes with several valuable features, Dictation on iPhone being one of them. The feature allows users to type without straining their fingers on a small screen. It's powered by advanced voice recognition and voice processing and generally works seamlessly.

Apple's voice assistant Siri is also based on the same technology. The fact that smartphones can convert speech to text in real-time shows how far smartphones have come. iPhones can also translate text from one language to another without using any third-party apps or platforms using Translate.

Related: How To Add Effects To iMessage On iPhone

Dictation on iPhone lets users dictate text pretty much anywhere they can type. Users can even use Dictation alongside typing, in which the keyboard remains on the screen while users speak what they wish to enter in a text field, so they can easily switch between the two input modes. First, users must activate the feature in Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Dictation. Then, they should head to the platform with a text field where they wish to insert text. Now, tap on the microphone icon in the text field or the microphone icon on the keyboard and start dictating text. The iPhone will process the words and convert them to text with punctuation.

These iPhones Support Voice Dictation

The speech-to-text feature on iPhones can be handy, especially when users don't wish to type, but there are certain things that they should know. The models that support Dictation include iPhone SE (2nd generation and later), iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and all the models in the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 lineup. On the official support page, Apple mentions that Dictation requests are processed on iPhones offline . However, the text is shared with the providers when users speak to type on search engines. The feature is available in many languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Greek, Hindi, Russian, and Vietnamese.

While dictating text, users can add emojis by saying phrases like " mind-blown emoji " or " laughing emoji ." When done with the message, tap on the small microphone icon with a cross to stop dictating. It appears along with the cursor. Alternatively, the feature turns off when users do not speak for 30 seconds. Since there is no limit on the length of the message that can be created, users can easily dictate long emails with pointers or short messages to friends on social media platforms. Dictation on iPhone works well with most communications apps, including Apple Messages , WhatsApp, Instagram, Mail, Gmail, and on other apps such as Notes.

Next: How To Send A Voice Message On An iPhone With iOS 16

Source: Apple

The 6 Best Dictation Apps for iPhone

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Voice dictation is convenient. It allows for multitasking while at home, speeding up chores such as writing down a shopping list, and even effectively note down professional meetings to free you up to focus on the discussion. Making a note on your phone simply by saying it rather than having to write it down can be a game-changer.

Speech-to-text can be much faster than you can type, and it can be a very helpful tool in day-to-day life. Picking the best dictation app for iPhone is a smart move, and we've got you covered on choices.

Native iPhone Dictation

iPhone 6s or later have a native dictator built-in. You can access it by tapping the microphone icon on your keyboard and then simply start speaking to dictate.

Any word that the dictator isn't sure it heard correctly will display with a blue squiggle underneath, which allows you to double-check before sending a message, or finalizing a grocery list.

While an in-built native dictator is a good feature from Apple, its barebone functionality may lead you to try alternatives.

Best Third-Party Dictation Apps for iPhone

1. dictation - speech to text.

Dictation is one of the highly-rated dictation apps on the App Store and for good reason.

It has a simple user interface, allowing you to type or speak via the Start Recording button located on the bottom menu. It has an in-built Translation feature, the ability to import recordings to Transcribe , and you can also share it via the app to AirDrop and pretty much any messaging app. You can store text in your iCloud Drive with this app.

It works with UK English, American English, and Spanish. It is very accurate with both UK and American English, with good ratings on the App Store for Spanish.

Finally, its Settings section allows for a lot of customization in the visuals of the interface.

Dictation's offering of translation, customization options, and its dedicated help section make it a worthy alternative to iPhone's native dictator.

Download: Dictation for iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

Scribe is a relatively new app, but its seek, calming UI, and less-is-more approach make it a worthy consideration for your dictator app of choice.

As you make a voice recording, its AI will turn it into text. When you've finished and saved your recording, you can swipe left on it to bring up some options such as Export, Rename, and Delete.

Related: The Best (Free) Speech-to-Text Software for Windows

Its export feature allows all the main messaging apps and the built-in Files app. Keeping all voice recordings that you created via dictation can help with self-organization. For instance, knowing that all meetings where you need to use dictation can be kept within the Scribe app. This is a plus against the iPhone's native dictator, which simply works with the keyboard and doesn't have a dedicated library of files.

Download: Scribe for iOS (Free)

3. Transcribe

transcribe denvip audio recording options

Transcribe by DENVIP utilizes very capable artificial intelligence to provide near-instant transcriptions of your speech recordings. This can take a lot of pressure off for you if you regularly attend meetings, or otherwise need to make a lot of notes that often break the flow of your work.

With its premium model, Transcribe is probably best for people who are using the app for professional reasons.

You can import videos or audio recordings from your iCloud Drive or iPhone into the app, or simply use their native Voice Recorder. With three forms of English as well as French available, Transcribe offers lots of choices in terms of what you can import into it.

The premium version allows you to export dictation files to text, PDF, DOCX, SRT, and JPG, as well as continue editing it in on a web browser on Mac or PC.

Its comprehensive export and importing abilities, as well as its feature of adding photos to Files make it a great alternative to iPhone's native dictator.

Download: Transcribe for iOS (Free, subscription available)

Otter is the clear winner on this list for UI, and it's not hard to see how this app has some of the best ratings out of the dictation apps available on the App Store. Its Recorder allows for photos to be added in, and you can also invite someone via a link to edit, comment, or simply view the recording.

It has a feature that lets you sync it up to your calendars so that you can make a reminder while in a meeting for a follow-up.

It's also pretty generous with its free Basic plan, allowing 600 minutes of usage before you'll need to pay to continue using the app.

Otter offers the ability to filter recordings into Groups or Folders , with a dedicated tab for the recordings that have been Shared with You by others. Its Import feature seamlessly syncs with iCloud Drive.

Download: Otter for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)

5. Transcribe Live

Transcribe Live is a very simple app that does what it says on the tin. It has only four tabs - Record , Transcriptions , Credits , and Settings .

While it does not support importing from iCloud Drive or somewhere else, you can record your dictation in-app via the Record tab, and then it will automatically transcribe for you via the Transcribe tab.

Transcribe Live allows you to export your recordings and transcriptions to any messaging app, or to be saved to your Files. You can edit the transcriptions outside the app where you've exported them to to make sure that it is 100% correct.

The app gives you 15 minutes for free when you first start the app, and has one-off purchases as well as subscription options available for purchasing more.

Download: Transcribe Live for iOS (Free, in-app purchases, subscription available)

Drafts is a highly comprehensive app, and while it can be a little overwhelming, it is highly capable of your needs. Its customization, exporting options, and seamless syncing with Apple Watch makes it a strong entry into this list. While Microsoft Word can be used effectively with voice typing , Drafts is more than a match for Word with its seamless integration of dictation into its feature offering.

You can make notes by tapping the Search icon, which allows you to open a New Draft , New with Clipboard , or New with Dictation . Exporting options include Google Drive, Evernote, OneNote, iCloud Drive, and you can also export directly as a WordPress post, a Tweet, or an email on Gmail.

The text can be arranged using a drag-and-drop mechanic, and you can also manually add in syntax. You can also group together different Drafts utilizing their Tags feature. Its Pro version allows three different color schemes for the UI and other customizations that make the app's visual organization appealing to you.

Drafts is not only a great alternative to iPhone's native dictator, but to in-built apps such as Notes, Voice Memos, and Pages.

Download: Drafts for iOS (Free, subscription available)

Read My Lips

Sticking with the native iPhone dictator is fine enough, but if you use dictation a lot in your professional life, then a third-party alternative such as the ones covered here will be a better option for you.

Note-Taking Apps
Speech Recognition

How to transcribe audio to text using Dictation on a Mac

You can use the Dictation feature built into your Mac to transcribe audio files, and in my experience, it's been about 98-99% accurate, so it saves a lot of time if you want to index your audio files, or you need a transcript for some other purpose.

These instructions were last updated for macOS Monterey 12.4.

First, open up System Preferences, go to Keyboard, then the 'Dictation' tab:

Turn on Dictation, and when prompted, accept the terms for Apple's Dictation service. Also take note of the 'Shortcut' (e.g. 'press dictation key' or 'press control twice'. You'll use that to activate dictation later.

Make sure you have your Mac's microphone selected, then open up TextEdit and create a new document:

Activate the dictation shortcut (e.g. press the dictation key), then start playing back your audio file through your Mac's speakers. The mic should pick up the audio and start transcribing live into the open document.

Bonus: Routing audio internally on the Mac with Loopback

If you have Rogue Amoeba's Loopback , you can also use it to route the audio signal internally , so you don't have to have audio playing out through the speakers.

After you have Loopback installed and running, create a new device called 'Transcription Device'. Delete the default Pass-thru source, and add in Quicktime Player as a new source:

Quit Loopback (the device will still be present on the system after quitting), then go back to the Dictation settings in System Preferences. In there, choose the new 'Transcription Device' sound input:

Transcription Device in System Preferences Dictation

Then go back to TextEdit, and in a new document, activate Dictation using your configured shortcut (e.g. the dictation key). Pop over to QuickTime Player, and play your audio or video file, and watch as the words are transcribed as if by magic!

Live transcription using Loopback from QuickTime to TextEdit on the Mac

Alternative: Welder (or other online services)

As an alternative, you could use an online upload-to-transcribe service like Welder . I tested the same files on Welder that I used with Dictation, and Welder was better about adding punctuation and separating multi-person interviews.

Their transcription feature can be used for free; upload a video or audio file, and within a few minutes, you can read or download the transcribed text.

MacBook tips: How to use speech-to-text to dictate in macOS

Take notes without a keyboard using this handy feature

Speech-to-text is a handy tool for dictation available in macOS. Once you set it up, you can scribble words to a page using this tool anywhere you would otherwise type with a keyboard. In addition to typing text, you can also enter punctuation marks and formatting such as line breaks and special symbols by speaking the commands.

While this feature was full of glitches and actually made typing more laborious in years past, Apple really has ironed out most of the wrinkles and made it fairly useful. If you find yourself needing a break from the keyboard, it’s definitely worth trying.

It is a handy tool when you need to work hands-free, or jot down a quick note before its lost forever. That said, it’s still not perfect, and I find that it works best when you speak slowly and accentuate bigger words.

1) Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner.

2) In the menu that opens, select System Preferences .

3) In System Preferences, select Keyboard .

4) In the Keyboard window, go to the Dictation tab .

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5) There, switch on the dictation option .

6) Click Enable Dictation to allow Apple to use the recording.

7) In any document processor, click the Dictate icon and start speaking.

8) To change the default language, click the down arrow to open the language drop-down menu .

9) Select a language you would like to convert from speech to text.

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How to Dictate on iPhone

Turn dictation on from Keyboard settings, tap the microphone, and speak away

University of Texas at Arlington
Step-by-Step: Turn on Dictation
Step-by-Step: Use Dictation
Keywords for Punctuation

What to Know

Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > toggle on Enable Dictation .
Open on-screen keyboard in app with text field > tap the microphone > speak > view your words on screen.
Use keywords for punctuation > tap the microphone, keyboard, or empty part of screen to stop dictation.

This article explains how to dictate on iPhone with instructions for turning on, using, and ending Dictation. Also included are keywords that you can say to add punctuation and line breaks. Instructions apply to iPhones running iOS 15 or later and iPads running iPadOS 15 or later.

Dictation isn't available in every language and region. Depending on where you are, you may incur data charges when using this feature.

How to Turn on Dictation on iPhone

One of the most powerful features of iOS and iPadOS is also one that is easy to miss: dictation.

Siri may get all the press for being a great personal assistant , but Dictation may be at its best when it's taking notes, and it's available for both the iPhone and the iPad.

If you haven't used this feature yet, the first step is to turn it on. Here's how:

Voice dictation is available any time the on-screen keyboard is available, which means no hunting around for it when you need it. You can use it for text messages, email messages, or taking notes in your favorite app.

Open Settings .

Tap General .

Choose Keyboard .

Move the toggle on (green position) beside Enable Dictation .

How to Use Dictation on iPhone

Once you've enabled dictation on your iPhone, follow these directions to help you use it.

If using the on-screen keyboard of your iPad is inconvenient when typing more than a line or two, use dictation instead. Voice dictation makes the iPhone a viable alternative to a laptop for sending and replying to emails. However, older devices may require an internet connection to do the heavy lifting.

Display the on-screen keyboard by tapping a field that accepts text (such as an email or note).

Tap the microphone icon.

You may be prompted to enable dictation even if you turned it on from Keyboard settings. Tap Enable Dictation to confirm.

Start talking. The device listens to your voice and turns it into text as you speak.

Use keywords to insert punctuation or paragraph breaks as needed.

Tap the small microphone in the text field or keyboard, or tap an empty area in the text field > Stop to end dictation.

You may also see a keyboard icon as the prompt for stopping dictation. Dictation also times out after 30 seconds in iOS and iPadOS 16 or later.

Make adjustments to the text as necessary with the keyboard.

Add Punctuation With These Dictation Keywords

To get the most out of Dictation, use these keywords to add punctuation or line breaks:

Period : The "." is the standard way to end a sentence.
Question Mark : The "?" punctuation mark.
New Paragraph : Starts a new paragraph. End the previous sentence before beginning the new paragraph.
Exclamation Point : The "!" punctuation mark.
Comma : The "," punctuation mark.
Colon : The ":" punctuation mark.
Semi-Colon : The ";" punctuation mark
Ellipsis : The "..." punctuation mark
Quote and Unquote : Puts quotation marks around words or phrases.
Slash : The "/" symbol.
Asterisk : The "*" symbol.
Ampersand : The "&" symbol, which means "and."
At Sign : The "@" symbol found in email addresses.
Emoji : Say emoji names like "heart emoji."

Voice dictation automatically adds spaces after punctuation that needs it—periods, commas, and closing quotation marks, for example. You can turn off automatic punctuation from General > Keyboard > Automatic Punctuation .

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Use Voice Control on your Mac

With Voice Control, you can navigate and interact with your Mac using only your voice instead of a traditional input device.

How to turn on Voice Control

Requires macOS Catalina 10.15 or later

Choose Apple menu  > System Settings (or System Preferences).

Click Accessibility.

In Accessibility settings, click Voice Control.

Turn on Voice Control. If you're turning on Voice Control for the first time, your Mac might complete a one-time download from Apple.* Voice Control becomes available after the download.

When Voice Control is turned on:

In macOS Ventura or earlier, a microphone icon appears on screen. It represents the mic selected in Voice Control settings. To stop listening, click Sleep under the microphone. To start listening, click “Wake up.” You can also say “Go to sleep” or “Wake up.”

How to use Voice Control

Get to know Voice Control by reviewing the list of voice commands available to you: Say “Show commands.” The list varies based on context, and you may discover variations not listed.

If you're using macOS Sonoma or later, you can learn and practice Voice Control commands using an interactive guide:

Choose Apple menu  > System Settings.

Click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Voice Control on the right.

Click the Open Guide button.

To make it easier to know whether Voice Control heard your phrase as a command, you can turn on “Play sound when command is recognized” in Voice Control settings.

Basic navigation

Voice Control recognizes the names of many apps, labels, controls, and other onscreen items, so you can navigate by combining those names with certain commands. Here are some examples:

Open Pages: “Open Pages.” Then create a new document: “Click New Document.” Then choose one of the letter templates: “Click Letter. Click Classic Letter.” Then save your document: “Save document.”

Start a new message in Mail: “Click New Message.” Then address it: “John Appleseed.”

Restart your Mac: “Click Apple menu. Click Restart” (or use the number overlay and say “Click 8”).

You can also create your own voice commands .

Number and name overlays

Use number and name overlays to quickly interact with parts of the screen that Voice Control recognizes as clickable, such as menus, checkboxes, and buttons.

To turn on item numbers, say “Show numbers.” Then just say the number to click it. To turn off item numbers, say “Hide numbers.”

To turn on item names, say “Show names.” To click a name, say “Click” and the name. To turn off item names, say “Hide names.” This feature requires macOS Sonoma or later.

These overlays make it easy to interact with complex interfaces, such as web pages. For example, in your web browser you could say “Search for Apple stores near me.” Then use the number overlay to choose one of the results: “Show numbers. Click 64.” (If the name of the link is unique, you might also be able to click it without overlays by saying “Click” and the name of the link.)

Voice Control automatically shows numbers in menus and wherever you need to distinguish between items that have the same name.

macos-sonoma-macbook-pro-voice-control-show-numbers

Grid overlays

Use grid overlays to interact with parts of the screen that don't have a control, or that Voice Control doesn't recognize as clickable.

Say “Show grid” to show a numbered grid on your screen, or “Show window grid” to limit the grid to the active window. Say a grid number to subdivide that area of the grid, and repeat as needed to continue refining your selection.

To click the item behind a grid number, say “Click” and the number. Or say “Zoom in” and the number to zoom in on that area of the grid, then automatically hide the grid. You can also use grid numbers to drag a selected item from one area of the grid to another: “Drag 3 to 14.”

To hide grid numbers, say “Hide numbers.” To hide both numbers and grid, say “Hide grid.”

macos-sonoma-macbook-pro-voice-control-show-window-grid

When the cursor is in a document, email message, text message, or other text field, you can dictate continuously. Dictation converts your spoken words into text.

To enter a punctuation mark, symbol, or emoji, just speak its name, such as “question mark” or “percent sign” or “happy emoji.” These may vary by language or dialect.

To move around and select text, you can use commands like “Move up two sentences” or “Move forward one paragraph” or “Select previous word” or “Select next paragraph.”

To format text, try “Bold that” or “Capitalize that,” for example. Say “numeral” to format your next phrase as a number.

To delete text, you can choose from many delete commands. For example, say “delete that” and Voice Control knows to delete what you just typed. Or say “Delete all” to delete everything and start over.

To dictate character by character, say “Spelling Mode,” then speak each character. This feature requires macOS Ventura or later and isn't available in all languages.

Voice Control understands contextual cues, so you can seamlessly transition between text dictation and commands. For example, to dictate and then send a birthday greeting in Messages, you could say “Happy Birthday. Click Send.” Or to replace a phrase, say “Replace I’m almost there with I just arrived .”

To manually switch between modes, say:

“Command Mode”

“Dictation Mode”

“Spelling Mode”

You can also create your own vocabulary for use with dictation.

Create your own voice commands

Open Voice Control settings, such as by saying “Open Voice Control settings” or “Open Voice Control preferences.”

Click Commands or say “Click Commands.” The complete list of all commands opens.

To add a new command, click the add button (+) or say “Click add.” Then configure these options to define the command:

When I say: Enter the word or phrase that you want to be able to speak to perform the action.

While using: Choose whether your Mac performs the action only when you're using a particular app.

Perform: Choose the action to perform. You can open a Finder item, open a URL, paste text, paste data from the clipboard, press a keyboard shortcut, select a menu item, or run an Automator workflow.

You can also select a command to find out whether other phrases work with that command. For example, “Undo that” works with several phrases, including “Undo this” and “Scratch that.”

To quickly add a new command, you can say “Make this speakable.” Voice Control will help you configure the new command based on the context. For example, if you speak this command while a menu item is selected, Voice Control helps you make a command for choosing that menu item.

Starting with the latest version of macOS Monterey, you can also import or export voice commands .

Create your own dictation vocabulary

Click Vocabulary, or say “Click Vocabulary.”

Click the add button (+) or say “Click add.”

Type a new word or phrase as you want it to be entered when spoken.

Starting with the latest version of macOS Monterey, you can also import or export vocabulary .

For the best performance when using Voice Control with a Mac laptop computer and an external display, keep your laptop lid open, use an external mic, or use a display with a built-in mic.

If you're using a Mac mini, Mac Studio, or Mac Pro, you must use an external mic or display with a built-in mic.

All audio processing for Voice Control happens on your device, so your personal data is always kept private.

Use Voice Control on your iPhone or iPod touch .

Learn more about accessibility features in Apple products .

* If you're on a business or school network that uses a proxy server, Voice Control might not be able to download. Have your network administrator refer to the network ports used by Apple software products .

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The best dictation software in 2024

These speech-to-text apps will save you time without sacrificing accuracy..

The early days of dictation software were like your friend that mishears lyrics: lots of enthusiasm but little accuracy. Now, AI is out of Pandora's box, both in the news and in the apps we use, and dictation apps are getting better and better because of it. It's still not 100% perfect, but you'll definitely feel more in control when using your voice to type.

I took to the internet to find the best speech-to-text software out there right now, and after monologuing at length in front of dozens of dictation apps, these are my picks for the best.

The best dictation software

What is dictation software.

If this isn't what you're looking for, here's what else is out there:

AI assistants, such as Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Microsoft's Cortana, can help you interact with each of these ecosystems to send texts, buy products, or schedule events on your calendar.

Transcription services that use a combination of dictation software, AI, and human proofreaders can achieve above 99% accuracy.

What makes a great dictation app?

How we evaluate and test apps.

Dictation software comes in different shapes and sizes. Some are integrated in products you already use. Others are separate apps that offer a range of extra features. While each can vary in look and feel, here's what I looked for to find the best:

High accuracy. Staying true to what you're saying is the most important feature here. The lowest score on this list is at 92% accuracy.

Ease of use. This isn't a high hurdle, as most options are basic enough that anyone can figure them out in seconds.

Availability of voice commands. These let you add "instructions" while you're dictating, such as adding punctuation, starting a new paragraph, or more complex commands like capitalizing all the words in a sentence.

Availability of the languages supported. Most of the picks here support a decent (or impressive) number of languages.

Versatility. I paid attention to how well the software could adapt to different circumstances, apps, and systems.

I tested these apps by reading a 200-word script containing numbers, compound words, and a few tricky terms. I read the script three times for each app: the accuracy scores are an average of all attempts. Finally, I used the voice commands to delete and format text and to control the app's features where available.

What about AI?

Also, since this isn't a hot AI software category, these apps may prefer to focus on their core offering and product quality instead, not ride the trendy wave by slapping "AI-powered" on every web page.

Tips for using voice recognition software

Though dictation software is pretty good at recognizing different voices, it's not perfect. Here are some tips to make it work as best as possible.

Speak naturally (with caveats). Dictation apps learn your voice and speech patterns over time. And if you're going to spend any time with them, you want to be comfortable. Speak naturally. If you're not getting 90% accuracy initially, try enunciating more.

Punctuate. When you dictate, you have to say each period, comma, question mark, and so forth. The software isn't always smart enough to figure it out on its own.

Learn a few commands . Take the time to learn a few simple commands, such as "new line" to enter a line break. There are different commands for composing, editing, and operating your device. Commands may differ from app to app, so learn the ones that apply to the tool you choose.

Know your limits. Especially on mobile devices, some tools have a time limit for how long they can listen—sometimes for as little as 10 seconds. Glance at the screen from time to time to make sure you haven't blown past the mark.

Practice. It takes time to adjust to voice recognition software, but it gets easier the more you practice. Some of the more sophisticated apps invite you to train by reading passages or doing other short drills. Don't shy away from tutorials, help menus, and on-screen cheat sheets.

The best dictation software at a glance


Free dictation software on Apple devices	96%	Included with macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Apple Watch
Free dictation software on Windows	95%	Included with Windows 11 or as part of Microsoft 365 subscription
Customizable dictation app	97%	$15/month for Dragon Anywhere (iOS and Android); from $200 to $500 for desktop packages
Free mobile dictation software	92% (up to 98% with training)	Free
Typing in Google Docs	92%	Free
Collaboration	93%	Free plan available for 300 minutes per month; Pro plan starts at $16.99

Best free dictation software for Apple devices

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The interface for Apple Dictation, our pick for the best free dictation app for Apple users

Look no further than your Mac, iPhone, or iPad for one of the best dictation tools. Apple's built-in dictation feature, powered by Siri (I wouldn't be surprised if the two merged one day), ships as part of Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems. On iOS devices, you use it by pressing the microphone icon on the stock keyboard. On your desktop, you turn it on by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation , and then use a keyboard shortcut to activate it in your app.

Apple Dictation price: Included with macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Apple Watch.

Apple Dictation accuracy: 96%. I tested this on an iPhone SE 3rd Gen using the dictation feature on the keyboard.

Best free dictation software for Windows

Windows 11 speech recognition (windows).

The interface for Windows Speech Recognition, our pick for the best free dictation app for Windows

Windows 11 Speech Recognition (also known as Voice Typing) is a strong dictation tool, both for writing documents and controlling your Windows PC. Since it's part of your system, you can use it in any app you have installed.

To start, first, check that online speech recognition is on by going to Settings > Time and Language > Speech . To begin dictating, open an app, and on your keyboard, press the Windows logo key + H. A microphone icon and gray box will appear at the top of your screen. Make sure your cursor is in the space where you want to dictate.

When it's ready for your dictation, it will say Listening . You have about 10 seconds to start talking before the microphone turns off. If that happens, just click it again and wait for Listening to pop up. To stop the dictation, click the microphone icon again or say "stop talking."

As I dictated into a Word document, the gray box reminded me to hang on, we need a moment to catch up . If you're speaking too fast, you'll also notice your transcribed words aren't keeping up. This never posed an issue with accuracy, but it's a nice reminder to keep it slow and steady.

While you can use this tool anywhere inside your computer, if you're a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you'll be able to use the dictation features there too. The best app to use it on is, of course, Microsoft Word: it even offers file transcription, so you can upload a WAV or MP3 file and turn it into text. The engine is the same, provided by Microsoft Speech Services.

Windows 11 Speech Recognition price: Included with Windows 11. Also available as part of the Microsoft 365 subscription.

Windows 11 Speech Recognition accuracy: 95%. I tested it in Windows 11 while using Microsoft Word.

Best customizable dictation software

In 1990, Dragon Dictate emerged as the first dictation software. Over three decades later, we have Dragon by Nuance, a leader in the industry and a distant cousin of that first iteration. With a variety of software packages and mobile apps for different use cases (e.g., legal, medical, law enforcement), Dragon can handle specialized industry vocabulary, and it comes with excellent features, such as the ability to transcribe text from an audio file you upload.

For this test, I used Dragon Anywhere, Nuance's mobile app, as it's the only version—among otherwise expensive packages—available with a free trial. It includes lots of features not found in the others, like Words, which lets you add words that would be difficult to recognize and spell out. For example, in the script, the word "Litmus'" (with the possessive) gave every app trouble. To avoid this, I added it to Words, trained it a few times with my voice, and was then able to transcribe it accurately.

It also provides shortcuts. If you want to shorten your entire address to one word, go to Auto-Text , give it a name ("address"), and type in your address: 1000 Eichhorn St., Davenport, IA 52722, and hit Save . The next time you dictate and say "address," you'll get the entire thing. Press the comment bubble icon to see text commands while you're dictating, or say "What can I say?" and the command menu pops up.

Once you complete a dictation, you can email, share (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox), open in Word, or save to Evernote. You can perform these actions manually or by voice command (e.g., "save to Evernote.") Once you name it, it automatically saves in Documents for later review or sharing.

Accuracy is good and improves with use, showing that you can definitely train your dragon. It's a great choice if you're serious about dictation and plan to use it every day, but may be a bit too much if you're just using it occasionally.

Dragon by Nuance price: $15/month for Dragon Anywhere (iOS and Android); from $200 to $500 for desktop packages

Dragon by Nuance accuracy: 97%. Tested it in the Dragon Anywhere iOS app.

Best free mobile dictation software

The interface for Gboard, our pick for the best mobile dictation software

Back to the topic: it has an excellent dictation feature. To start, press the microphone icon on the top-right of the keyboard. An overlay appears on the screen, filling itself with the words you're saying. It's very quick and accurate, which will feel great for fast-talkers but probably intimidating for the more thoughtful among us. If you stop talking for a few seconds, the overlay disappears, and Gboard pastes what it heard into the app you're using. When this happens, tap the microphone icon again to continue talking.

Wherever you can open a keyboard while using your phone, you can have Gboard supporting you there. You can write emails or notes or use any other app with an input field.

The writer who handled the previous update of this list had been using Gboard for seven years, so it had plenty of training data to adapt to his particular enunciation, landing the accuracy at an amazing 98%. I haven't used it much before, so the best I had was 92% overall. It's still a great score. More than that, it's proof of how dictation apps improve the more you use them.

Gboard price : Free

Gboard accuracy: 92%. With training, it can go up to 98%. I tested it using the iOS app while writing a new email.

Best dictation software for typing in Google Docs

The interface for Google Docs voice typing, our pick for the best dictation software for Google Docs

Just like Microsoft offers dictation in their Office products, Google does the same for their Workspace suite. The best place to use the voice typing feature is in Google Docs, but you can also dictate speaker notes in Google Slides as a way to prepare for your presentation.

To get started, make sure you're using Chrome and have a Google Docs file open. Go to Tools > Voice typing , and press the microphone icon to start. As you talk, the text will jitter into existence in the document.

You can change the language in the dropdown on top of the microphone icon. If you need help, hover over that icon, and click the ? on the bottom-right. That will show everything from turning on the mic, the voice commands for dictation, and moving around the document.

It's unclear whether Google's voice typing here is connected to the same engine in Gboard. I wasn't able to confirm whether the training data for the mobile keyboard and this tool are connected in any way. Still, the engines feel very similar and turned out the same accuracy at 92%. If you start using it more often, it may adapt to your particular enunciation and be more accurate in the long run.

Google Docs voice typing price : Free

Google Docs voice typing accuracy: 92%. Tested in a new Google Docs file in Chrome.

Best dictation software for collaboration

It's not as robust in terms of dictation as others on the list, but it compensates with its versatility. It's a meeting assistant, first and foremost, ready to hop on your meetings and transcribe everything it hears. This is great to keep track of what's happening there, making the text available for sharing by generating a link or in the corresponding team workspace.

The reason why it's the best for collaboration is that others can highlight parts of the transcript and leave their comments. It also separates multiple speakers, in case you're recording a conversation, so that's an extra headache-saver if you use dictation software for interviewing people.

When you open the app and click the Record button on the top-right, you can use it as a traditional dictation app. It doesn't support voice commands, but it has decent intuition as to where the commas and periods should go based on the intonation and rhythm of your voice. Once you're done talking, Otter will start processing what you said, extract keywords, and generate action items and notes from the content of the transcription.

If you're going for long recording stretches where you talk about multiple topics, there's an AI chat option, where you can ask Otter questions about the transcript. This is great to summarize the entire talk, extract insights, and get a different angle on everything you said.

Otter price: Free plan available for 300 minutes / month. Pro plan starts at $16.99, adding more collaboration features and monthly minutes.

Otter accuracy: 93% accuracy. I tested it in the web app on my computer.

Otter supported languages: Only American and British English for now.

Is voice dictation for you?

Dictation software isn't for everyone. It will likely take practice learning to "write" out loud because it will feel unnatural. But once you get comfortable with it, you'll be able to write from anywhere on any device without the need for a keyboard.

And by using any of the apps I listed here, you can feel confident that most of what you dictate will be accurately captured on the screen.

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How To Use Text-to-Speech on iPhone and iPad

The Text-to-Speech feature is available in Accessibility settings in iOS and iPadOS.
Speak Selection allows you to highlight text which you want to be read aloud while the Speak Screen feature reads out everything on the screen.
Once you enable the Speak Screen feature, you can ask Siri to “Speak Screen” and it will do the needful.

How To Use Text-to-Speech on iPhone and iPad

There’s no denying that reading is a good habit. But, reading from a screen might not be ideal as it increases your daily screen time and also causes vision-related issues. A simple solution to this problem is to use the Text-to-Speech feature. It will read aloud the text on the screen and you can customize everything from the language, speed, accent, and more. Read along to learn how to use Text-to-Speech on iPhone and iPad.

Enable Speak Selection To Use Text-to-Speech on iPhone and iPad

The Speak Selection is an Accessibility feature in iOS and iPadOS. Using this feature, your device can read aloud text that you select and you get total control over it. The Speak Selection feature is useful for people who can manually highlight the text that they want to convert to speech. However, if you have problems related to vision, we suggest using the Speak Screen feature which we’ve covered later in the article.

Time needed: 3 minutes

Steps to enable Spoken Content and use it to read aloud highlight text on iPhone and iPad.

Enable Speak Selection to Use Text-to-Speech on iPhone

You can also tap and hold on text messages in Messages, WhatsApp, etc., and then select the Speak option to use the Text-to-Speech feature. If you don’t see the Speak option right away, it might be hidden behind the More option. Navigating to the Speak feature after holding on text will be a similar process in most applications.

Use Text-to-Speech in Safari Browser

Don’t want to strain your eyes while reading a super interesting blog online? You can use the in-built Text-to-Speech feature in Safari on iPhone and iPad. It will read aloud the entire blog from the beginning to the end without any interruptions.

Open the Safari Browser on your iPhone or iPad and head to the website or webpage you want to be read out aloud to you.
Tap the AA icon located in the bottom left corner of the address bar.
Tap the Listen to Page option in the pop-up menu and your device will start reading out aloud the contents of the website/webpage.
If you want to adjust the speed, rewind, skip, pause, or end listening to the page, tap the Listen to Page icon located at the bottom left corner and a pop-up will display all these options.

Use Text-to-Speech in Safari Browser on iPhone

Enable Speak Screen To Use Text-to-Speech for PDFs, eBooks, And More

If you have vision-related problems, it might not be the best idea to spend a lot of time on your iPhone or iPad. But, many of us use these devices to read news, books, research papers, etc. In this case, you can enable and use the Speak Screen feature which will convert all the text on the screen to speech. Here’s how to use the Speak Screen feature to convert Text-to-Speech on iPhone and iPad.

Open the Settings app on your iPhone and head to the Accessibility option.
Tap the Spoken Content option.

Enable Speak Screen to Use Text-to-Speech on iPhone

Now, open any PDF files, eBook, etc . on your iPhone and iPad.
Swipe up from the top using two fingers and the Text-to-Speech feature will start reading out aloud the contents on the screen.

You can use this feature on most apps on your iPhone and iPad. It might take a while to get used to swiping down from the top of the screen with two fingers. You might even fail many attempts, but will eventually get used to the process.

Ask Siri To To Use Speak Screen Text-to-Speech on iPhone and iPad

Swiping down using two fingers to activate the Speak Screen feature is not very convenient. Moreover, you might even accidentally open the Notification Center or Control Panel while trying to do so. Therefore, a simpler method to activate the Speak Screen feature is to ask Siri to do it.

Enable the Speak Screen toggle on the next page.
Now, open any app of your choice where you want to use the Text-to-Speech feature to read aloud text.
Activate Siri and say, “ Hey Siri, Speak Screen. ”
Siri will start reading out text on the screen. You can control the speed, play, pause, and rewind using the Speech Controller .

Ask Siri To Speak Screen To Use Text-to-Speech on iPhone and iPad

Customize Text-to-Speech Voice and Speed

Don’t like the way the Text-to-Speech voice sounds? Is it too fast to understand or so slow that it takes forever to read aloud a single sentence? Don’t worry if you’re facing any of these problems. Because, you have total control over these factors and can easily change them. Here’s how you can customize the Text-to-Speech settings on your iPhone and iPad.

Select the Voices option on the Spoken Content screen

Select a Language of your choice from the list of available options.
Now, tap on a voice under the preferred accent.
On the next screen tap the Play button to listen to that voice.

Customize Text-to-Speech Voice on iPhone and iPad

Go back to the Spoken Content page.

Customize Text-to-Speech Speed on iPhone

We hope this guide helps you learn how to use the Text-to-Speech feature on your iPhone and iPad. If you have any doubts, please let us know in the comments below.

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EaseText Text2Speech Converter 4+

An offline text to speech app, designed for iphone.

Offers In-App Purchases

iPhone Screenshots

Description.

An offline app engineered to seamlessly transform text into remarkably natural and lifelike speech EaseText Text to Speech Converter is an avant-garde app engineered to seamlessly transform text into remarkably natural and lifelike speech. Whether you're a content creator, educator, or simply in pursuit of top-tier speech synthesis, EaseText Text to Speech Converter is your gateway to exceptional service. Unlock Limitless Text-to-Speech Possibilities - With EaseText Text to Speech Converter, you gain access to an expansive realm of text to speech capabilities previously unattainable. The diversity and excellence embodied in the voice library open up boundless possibilities for your projects, educational pursuits, content creation, and media production. Key Features: 1 Offline Functionality Work seamlessly without an internet connection, ensuring uninterrupted access to lifelike speech synthesis anywhere, anytime. 2 Voice Variety Choose from a vast library of over 1300 voices, allowing for truly personalized audio creations. 3 Language Support Support for 30 languages, including English, Chinese, Russian, French, German, Arabic, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Georgian, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Kazakh, Luxembourgish, Nepali, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and more. 4 File Format Compatibility Effortlessly convert text from various file formats, such as TXT, Word, Excel, and more, into high-quality audio. 5 Bulk Conversion Easily convert text in bulk from multiple files, streamlining your workflow for increased productivity. 6 Real-Time Processing Experience real-time text-to-speech synthesis, with speedy conversions that take just minutes to transform input text into audio. 7 Privacy Assurance Rest easy knowing your data remains secure as the software operates entirely offline, eliminating concerns about data privacy and security. 8 Affordable Pricing Offer budget-friendly pricing plans, ensuring accessibility for users with varying budgets. 9 User-Friendly Interface Enjoy the user-friendly and intuitive interface. Easy for users of all levels to create professional-grade audio content.

App Privacy

The developer, 宏超宋 , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Not Collected

The developer does not collect any data from this app.

Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

Information

Business Edition $155.99
Family Edition $83.90
Personal Edition $47.90
App Support
Privacy Policy

Measure Tools: AR Tape Ruler

SonixScript - Speech to Text

PDF To Text: PDF Editor

Transcribe voice to text.

Euclid - Calculator

IMAGES

iOS How to Text to Speech (Spoken Content) iPhone
How to use the text-to-speech features of the Apple iPad
How to Activate the Text to Speech Feature in Apple Pages
How to Use Text To Speech on Mac
How to Enable Text To Speech on iOS Devices (with Pictures)
Mac OS Text to Speech

VIDEO

Speech Synthesis on Apple IIc
How To Use Dictation on Your Mac
How to Translate Speech to Text on iPhone
How to Activate Speech to text on MAC
Voice recognition in iOS Swift 5
Speech to Text iPad

COMMENTS

How to Convert Voice to Text on an iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Enable Dictation. Go to your iPhone's Settings, tap General, tap Keyboard, and then toggle on the switch for Enable Dictation. Dictation is a feature that needs to be turned on before you can use it. It uses Apple's servers to process your voice and convert it to text. Ensure you're connected to the internet when you're using ...
7 Best speech to text apps for iPhone in 2024
It supports over 40 languages. All you have to do is tap a button to translate the transcribed text. The app also has iCloud Synchronization. Once turned on, you can dictate text from your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, etc. Besides, you can also share the text across several social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp, etc.
How to Type with Your Voice on iPhone and iPad
Any time you're in an app where you can input text with the keyboard, you can use voice dictation instead of typing. To do so, tap the text input field so that your on-screen keyboard pops up. Next, tap the small microphone button located to the left of the space bar. (If you don't see the microphone icon on your keyboard, make sure that ...
The Best Speech-to-Text Apps and Tools for Every Type of User
Dragon Professional. $699.00 at Nuance. See It. Dragon is one of the most sophisticated speech-to-text tools. You use it not only to type using your voice but also to operate your computer with ...
iPhone Dictation: How to Use Voice-to-Text
Learn how to send texts and emails, enable dictation, and use common voice commands with Siri or dictation on your iPhone. This article also covers how to fix dictation issues and get tips for voice typing.
Use dictation to enter text in Pages on Mac
macOS 12 or earlier: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation, then change the desired settings. When the microphone appears, begin speaking. To add punctuation, speak its name (for example, comma or apostrophe). Click Done below the microphone when you're finished. To learn more about using dictation, click the desktop ...
How to use dictation on iPhone in iOS 16
You've been able to dictate text to your iPhone instead of typing for a very long time, and over the years it has occasionally gotten better. But with iOS 16, the dictation features are taking a ...
How To Use Voice Dictation On An iPhone To Send Texts & Emails
The speech-to-text feature on iPhones can be handy, especially when users don't wish to type, but there are certain things that they should know. The models that support Dictation include iPhone SE (2nd generation and later), iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and all the models in the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone 14 lineup.
How to Turn on Voice to Text on iPhone
Learn how to enable and use Dictation, a voice-to-text feature on iPhone, for faster and easier input. Find out the languages, tips, commands, and troubleshooting for Dictation.
How to Use Dictation on a Mac for Voice-to-Text Typing
Double-press the Fn button to start dictating on your Mac. You should see a microphone icon appear or hear a macOS confirmation tone. If this is your first time using Dictation, click OK in the popup window to confirm you want to use it. After activating Dictation, start saying what you want to type to see it appear on screen.
The 6 Best Dictation Apps for iPhone
Download: Dictation for iOS (Free, in-app purchases available) 2. Scribe. Scribe is a relatively new app, but its seek, calming UI, and less-is-more approach make it a worthy consideration for your dictator app of choice. As you make a voice recording, its AI will turn it into text.
Dictation
Dictation - Speech to text allows to dictate, record, translate and transcribe text instead of typing. It uses latest speech to text voice recognition technology and its main purpose is speech to text and translation for text messaging. Never type any text, just dictate and translate using your speech! Nearly every app that can send text ...
How to transcribe audio to text using Dictation on a Mac
Learn how to use the Dictation feature built into your Mac to transcribe audio files with high accuracy. You can also route the audio internally with Loopback or use online services like Welder for more features.
How to use dictation and edit text with Voice Control on your iPhone
With Voice Control, you can use dictation to edit text with your voice in emails, notes, messages, and anywhere else you can type.To learn more about this to...
MacBook tips: How to use speech-to-text to dictate in macOS
6) Click Enable Dictation to allow Apple to use the recording. 7) In any document processor, click the Dictate icon and start speaking. 8) To change the default language, click the down arrow to ...
Voice to Text on iOS 15! [How to Use]
You can convert your speech to text on your iPhone after iOS 15 update. In this video, we will show you the easy step-by-step process to use the voice-to-tex...
How to Dictate on iPhone
Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > toggle on Enable Dictation. Open on-screen keyboard in app with text field > tap the microphone > speak > view your words on screen. Use keywords for punctuation > tap the microphone, keyboard, or empty part of screen to stop dictation. This article explains how to dictate on iPhone with instructions for ...
Why use dictation on Mac and how to do it
Go System Settings in the Apple Menu. Scroll down and choose Keyboard. Turn the toggle next to Dictation on. How to dictate on Mac . Once dictation is enabled, you can start using the speech-to-text Mac feature for writing your emails, texts, presentations, messages, web searches, and other tasks that normally involve typing.
Use Voice Control on your Mac
Choose Apple menu > System Settings. Click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Voice Control on the right. Click the Open Guide button. To make it easier to know whether Voice Control heard your phrase as a command, you can turn on "Play sound when command is recognized" in Voice Control settings.
The best dictation and speech-to-text software in 2024
The best dictation software. Apple Dictation for free dictation software on Apple devices. Windows 11 Speech Recognition for free dictation software on Windows. Dragon by Nuance for a customizable dictation app. Google Docs voice typing for dictating in Google Docs. Gboard for a free mobile dictation app.
How To Use Text-to-Speech on iPhone and iPad
Open the Settings app on your iPhone. Head to the Accessibility option. Tap the Spoken Content option located under the Vision menu. Enable the Speak Selection toggle on the next page. Now, head ...
Transcribing speech to text
Apple Design Awards. Apple Developer Academies. Entrepreneur Camp. WWDC. In this tutorial, you'll add a feature to Scrumdinger that captures and logs meeting transcripts. You'll request access to device hardware like the microphone and integrate the Speech framework to transcribe live audio to text.
Speech
Perform speech recognition on audio coming from the microphone of an iOS device. A request to recognize speech in a recorded audio file. A request to recognize speech from captured audio content, such as audio from the device's microphone. An abstract class that represents a request to recognize speech from an audio source.
‎EaseText Text2Speech Converter on the App Store
EaseText Text to Speech Converter is an avant-garde app engineered to seamlessly transform text into remarkably natural and lifelike speech. Whether you're a content creator, educator, or simply in pursuit of top-tier speech synthesis, EaseText Text to Speech Converter is your gateway to exceptional service.

How to Convert Voice to Text on an iPhone: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

Step by Step Tutorial on How to Convert Voice to Text on an iPhone

Step 1: Enable Dictation

Step 2: Use the Microphone Icon

Step 3: Speak Clearly into the Microphone

Step 4: Review and Edit the Transcribed Text

Additional Information

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use voice-to-text with third-party apps?

How much data does voice-to-text use?

Can I dictate in other languages?

Is there a time limit to how long I can dictate?

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Related posts:

7 Best speech to text apps for iPhone in 2024

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2. dictate2us Record & Transcribe – Fastest transcription service

3. Transcribe: Speech to Text – Instant transcription

4. Rev Voice Recorder & Memos – Simplified design

5: Dictation: Speech to text – Translate your transcription

6. Day One Journal: Private diary – Journalling made fun

7. Otter: Transcribe voice notes – Best for businesses

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Just tap the mic

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Author: Jason Cross , Senior Editor, Macworld

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Bonus: Routing audio internally on the Mac with Loopback

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