How do I use dictation on iPhone?

Quick answer: Open Settings > General > Keyboard and turn on Enable Dictation. Then tap a text field, tap the microphone on the keyboard and speak. Tap the microphone again to stop. That is Apple's built-in speech to text on iPhone, and it is free. If you hit its limits, such as names it keeps getting wrong, Dictop adds replacement rules, a choice of speech models, searchable voice notes and optional AI cleanup, with a 30-day free trial.

Voice to text on an iPhone needs no extra app. Here is how Apple's feature works, based on Apple's iPhone User Guide as checked on November 7, 2026 (the page lists iOS 27). Then we look at where it falls short.

How to turn on dictation on iPhone

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap General, then tap Keyboard.
3. Turn on Enable Dictation. If a prompt appears, tap Enable Dictation.

Below the dictation settings, About Dictation & Privacy explains what Apple does with your data. Read it if privacy matters to you. Apple says dictation is processed on the iPhone in many languages, so no internet connection is needed. Text you dictate into a search field may be sent to the search engine to run the search.

How to dictate on iPhone

1. Tap a text field to place the cursor where the text should start.
2. Tap the microphone on the onscreen keyboard.
3. When the microphone appears near the cursor, speak.
4. Keep typing if you like. The keyboard stays open, so you can switch between touch and voice.

To stop, tap the microphone again, say "Stop dictation", or stay silent for 30 seconds. If you do not see the microphone, check that Enable Dictation is on.

Punctuation, emoji and corrections

• Punctuation: say the name of the mark, such as "exclamation point". In supported languages, dictation also adds commas, periods and question marks for you. Turn that off under Settings > General > Keyboard > Auto-Punctuation.
• Emoji: say the name, such as "heart emoji" or "smiley face emoji".
• Line breaks: say "new line" or "new paragraph".
• Spelling: say "Let's invite Steven S-T-E-P-H-E-N", or "Change tea to T-E-E".
• Editing: say "select" or "delete" followed by the phrase. Say "undo" or "redo" to reverse or repeat a command.

Apple lists more in its commands for dictating text.

Languages

If you use a keyboard for another language, you can dictate in that language too. Add keyboards under Settings > General > Keyboard. Apple notes that dictation may not be available in all languages, countries or regions, so check its feature availability page for yours.

Is it different on iPad?

Not much. Apple's iPad User Guide gives the same steps: Settings > General > Keyboard > Enable Dictation, then the microphone on the keyboard. The iPad page adds that you can use handwriting with Dictation, and that you can select text with touch or Apple Pencil and replace it by voice.

If you only wanted to know how to dictate on an iPhone, you can stop here. Everything above is free and built in.

Where iPhone dictation falls short

Apple's feature is good for a quick message. These are the situations where people look for more. Each limit is based on what Apple's pages describe, so we word them that way.

It stops when you go quiet

Dictation ends by itself after 30 seconds of silence, according to Apple. It hurts when you stop to think, or look up a detail, in the middle of a long message. You tap the microphone and start again.

With Dictop: in the app you can record, pause and review a voice note, then edit it. In other apps, the Dictop keyboard works in segments of up to two minutes during a session you started in the app. Both are different from Apple's silence timeout, so try a short draft first.

Names and jargon keep coming out wrong

Apple's pages describe no setting where you add your own vocabulary or fix a word it mishears. A product name or a colleague's surname can come out wrong each time, and you retype it.

With Dictop: replacement rules correct recurring words after recognition. The iPhone app lets you add vocabulary replacements for the words you correct most.

You cannot choose the speech model

Apple's pages describe no choice of speech model. If a language, accent or speaking pace does not suit it, there is no other recognizer to try.

With Dictop: pick from the speech models the app offers, including Whisper and Parakeet models that run on the device. Parakeet v2 is English-only; v3 covers 25 European languages. What is available depends on your device and app version. See Whisper vs Parakeet. Cloud models are optional and use separate credits.

No cleanup with your own prompt

On iOS 27, Apple says dictation uses an on-device model to improve spelling, punctuation and capitalization. That is available in English on iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air or later. Apple's page describes no way to write your own instructions for it, such as "turn this into a polite email".

With Dictop: optional AI refinement lets you edit the prompt. On an eligible device with iOS 26 or later, Apple Intelligence can run it locally; cloud refinement needs credits. See AI dictation cleanup.

No searchable record of what you said

Apple's pages describe no history of what you dictated. If you close the app without saving, the words are gone.

With Dictop: voice notes are saved in a local transcript history. Search it, edit the text, then copy or share it. Read about searching and reusing dictation history.

Dictating in other apps

Apple's keyboard microphone works in any text field with no setup. That is its strength, and Dictop does not match it for speed of starting.

With Dictop: the Dictop keyboard works in supported fields after you start a recording session in the app. It needs Full Access, microphone permission for Dictop and Live Activities. A session lasts up to one hour, and some apps and secure fields do not allow custom keyboards. Full steps are in Can I use a dictation keyboard in other iPhone apps? If dictation stops working on your phone, see dictation not working on iPhone.

Not sure which to use?

Use Apple's dictation for short, casual text. Use Dictop for longer voice notes, repeated names, a choice of model, or control over the result. The same purchase covers your Mac, so you get the same replacement rules there.

Try Dictop free for 30 days

Dictop has a 30-day free trial. After that it is a one-time payment for lifetime on-device use, with no subscription: US $6.99 in the US App Store as of November 7, 2026. One purchase covers Mac, iPhone and iPad. Lifetime access includes future app updates, so new and improved on-device speech models arrive at no extra cost. Cloud credits are optional and sold separately; see dictation without a subscription.

Download Dictop and dictate one real message with both tools. You will see quickly which leaves you less to fix.