Dictate Voice to Text

How to dictate voice to text on iPhone and iPad

To dictate on an iPhone, tap in any text field, tap the microphone key on the keyboard and start talking. The words appear at the cursor, the keyboard stays open so you can type in between, and you tap the microphone again to stop. It is built into iOS, it is free, and in many languages it works with no internet connection.

These steps follow Apple's iPhone User Guide. iPad works the same way; Apple documents it in a separate guide that we have not gone through line by line.

Turn Dictation on

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Go to General > Keyboard.
  3. Turn on Enable Dictation.

If the microphone key is missing from your keyboard, this switch is the reason.

Dictate text

  1. Tap where you want the text to go.
  2. Tap the microphone key on the onscreen keyboard. In some apps a microphone also appears in the text field itself.
  3. Speak. You can keep typing while Dictation listens, for example to fix a word, and then carry on talking.
  4. To stop, tap the microphone again or say "Stop dictation".

Dictation also stops by itself after 30 seconds of silence. Apple states no other time limit.

Punctuation, emoji and new lines

In supported languages, Dictation adds commas, periods and question marks for you. If you would rather say them yourself, turn the feature off under Settings > General > Keyboard > Auto-Punctuation.

You can say punctuation and formatting out loud at any time: "comma", "period", "question mark", "new line", "new paragraph". Emoji work by name: "heart emoji". The spoken commands guide has the full list.

Editing by voice ("select", "delete", "change this to that") exists too, but Apple lists those commands as available in U.S. English on iPhone 12 and later, except iPhone SE.

Does iPhone dictation work offline, and is it private?

Apple's wording is: "Dictation is processed on your iPhone in many languages, and no internet connection is required." Apple keeps separate lists of the languages that support dictation, on-device dictation, automatic punctuation and emoji on its iOS feature availability page, and the lists change between iOS versions.

One exception is stated in the guide: when you dictate in a search field, the dictated text may be sent to the search provider, just as typed text would be.

On iOS 27, Apple also describes an on-device model that improves spelling, punctuation and capitalization in dictated text. It is listed for English on iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air and later.

Where built-in dictation falls short

For a text message it is hard to beat. The limits show up with longer writing:

Voice keyboards from the App Store

A third-party keyboard can replace the microphone key with its own speech recognition. Two things are worth knowing before you install one.

First, iOS does not let a keyboard use the microphone directly. Every voice keyboard therefore hands the listening over to its main app, which is why you will sometimes see the app open briefly before you can dictate.

Second, a voice keyboard asks for Allow Full Access, which iOS announces with a standard warning. Full Access is what lets the keyboard talk to its own app. It also means you are trusting that developer, so read where the speech is processed: some keyboards send audio to a server, others transcribe on the phone.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the microphone on the iPhone keyboard?

It is the microphone key on the onscreen keyboard. If it is not there, turn on Enable Dictation under Settings > General > Keyboard.

Does iPhone dictation need Wi-Fi?

Not in many languages. Apple says Dictation is processed on the iPhone in many languages with no internet connection required. Test your own setup by dictating in Airplane Mode.

How long can I dictate on iPhone?

Apple states no length limit. Dictation stops by itself after 30 seconds without speech, and you restart it by tapping the microphone key.

Can iPhone dictation transcribe a recording?

No. Dictation listens to you live. For a recording, Voice Memos shows a transcript on iPhone 12 or later in a set of languages, and transcription apps accept audio files from other apps.

Sources

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