How to Use Dictation on the iPhone

What is Voice Dictation on your iPhone?

With the feature of dictation, iPhone converts whatever you say into text. So, you do not have to type it. You can simply record the audio you want to transcribe, and the audio will be converted into text, you can have the new format immediately. Also, to dive in, and update iPhones to ios 16 or higher, because this feature is available on them.

Why Should You Use Dictation Feature on iPhone?

Through the use dictation on iPhone, you can speak to your phone instead of typing on it. Because you can access it practically any time your keyboard is displayed on the screen, you can avoid ever having to enter another text, email, note, or even a Facebook message again if you so want. By dictating your voice, you can save time. Because typing manually takes more time than speaking.

Don’t forget that you can also use your voice to issue commands to Siri using voice control. Also, other devices may require an internet connection; however, apple devices do not.

How to Turn on Dictation and Turn off Dictation on the iPhone

You will first need to enable and use voice dictation. To accomplish this, please complete the procedures below in order:

Before starting, be sure that your device is updated. First, Go to Settings, select General, and then tap the option for Software Update. You’ll be told that ios is up to date or prompted to download and install the latest update.

1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen.
2. Click on the General button.
3. Click on the Keyboard button.
4. You will see the Dictation mode. Then, the “Enable Dictation” and “On/Off” switch next to it.
5. To turn on dictation, click the “On/Off” button.
6. Green means on, and gray means off. Now, you’re ready to dictate.

For more detailed information, you can check Apple support.

How to Dictate Text on iPhone

Using it to dictate text on your iPhone can be accomplished in the following manner, please follow step-by-step:

1. Tap to place the insertion point where you want to insert text.
2. Click the microphone button on the virtual keyboard or look for it in any text area where it might appear (as in Messages, for example).
3. After clicking the icon, you can start speaking.
4. If you don’t see the microphone icon in the lower, make sure Dictation is turned on.
5. Go to Settings , then click General button.
6. Tap Keyboard , then turn on Enable Dictation, and accept.
7. Then start using, and talk to your iPhone. As you speak to insert text, iPhone automatically inserts punctuation for you.
8. Dictation works best if you annunciate clearly and speak at a regular pace.
9. When you finish, stop dictating. Tap the mic icon which there is a x on it, right next to the text. Then, you can enter text.

Note: You can turn off automatic punctuation by going to Settings  > General > Keyboard, then turning off Auto-Punctuation.

As you dictate text, you can insert emojis by saying their names (for example, “mind blown emoji” or “happy emoji”).

Note: Dictation mode automatically turns off if you stop speaking for 30 seconds. If dictation isn’t sure what word it heard, you’ll see a blue line under the transcribed word so you can check it for accuracy. To make corrections, tap the underlined word, then select the correct spelling. To replace a word, double-tap it, and choose the wanted word.

Also, dictation may not be available in all languages or in all countries or regions, and features may vary.

How to Dictate Punctuation on iPhone

You should be careful about punctuation because while you are speaking, iPhone converts punctuation. However, it does not work all the time. To use punctuation, follow the steps below:

1. Tap to place the insertion point where you want to insert text.
2. Click the microphone icon in the lower right on the virtual keyboard or look for it in any text area.
3. After clicking the icon, you can start speaking.
4. If you don’t see the microphone icon, make sure Dictation is turned on.
5. As you speak to insert text, iPhone automatically inserts punctuation for you.
6. To get the most out of voice dictation, speak the keywords to add punctuation or line breaks. Then the marks will be added automatically.
7. When you finish, tap the microphone icon which there is an x on it.

How to Add Punctuation with Your Voice on iPhone

Here are some common punctuation commands that you can use:

• 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.

When you say the bold words above, they will immediately appear in your text.

How to Add Emojis to Text with Dictation on iPhone

Users can more easily switch between dictation mode and typing mode as well as dictate emojis thanks to Apple’s and iPhone’s new updated versions. If you want to insert emoji to your text by dictating, you can follow the procedures below in order:

1. Open any app that allows you to write text, such as Messages to text messages.
2. Tap the Dictation/microphone icon on the keyboard, then start talking.
3. Say the emoji name plus the word “emoji.” E.g., “Cat emoji” or “Happy Face emoji”.
4. If you don’t know the name of an emoji you want to insert, you can look it up on a site.
5. Tap on the Dictation icon again to disable it.