How to Use Speech-to-Text on Android

This article explains how to type on your phone using your voice. This works on all devices that run Android regardless of the manufacturer (Google, Samsung, etc.).

How to Use Speech-to-Text on Android

Android phones come with a speech-to-text converter that lets you dictate text messages, emails, and other text you'd ordinarily type. It's enabled by default and should work with any app that accepts text input.

1. Tap the text box so the keyboard shows up.

2. Tap the microphone icon.

   On the Gboard keyboard (the default for many Android phones), it’s in the upper right corner of the keyboard. If you’re using a different keyboard, it might be elsewhere.

3. Speak into your phone. You should see your speech converted to text automatically.

   On some keyboards, you may see a window with a microphone button while you're dictating. Tap this to alternate between recording and pausing.

4. When you’re done, tap the microphone icon again to make your phone stop listening to you. You can edit the text as normal if necessary, and then send the message.

How to Customize Speech-to-Text on Android

Voice typing works out of the box and there isn't much you need to do on the settings side of things. However, there are two options to consider if you need them. You can block or unblock offensive words and choose the language your phone should use when you're converting speech to text. Here's how:

1. Go to Settings > System > Keyboard.

   On some devices, it's Settings > System > Language and input or Settings > General management > Language and input.

2. Tap On-screen keyboard.

3. Tap Google Voice Typing.

4. If your preferred language isn’t already selected, tap Languages to choose it. If your preferred language isn't already installed, tap Add a Language, then download the language of your choice.

   On some phones, you must turn on Offline speech recognition to dictate when there’s no internet connection available.

5. You can also control the way the speech-to-text engine responds to obscene language. If a potentially offensive word is dictated, by default that word will appear with asterisks. You can control this by toggling Block offensive words on or off.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Speech-to-Text

Typing with your words is a powerful way to save time and work more efficiently since you can almost certainly dictate a message quicker than you can type it. Below are some tips for getting the most out of this feature.

• Speak clearly and slowly. If you talk quickly or slur words together, the speech translation will be less accurate and you'll need to waste time editing it after it's translated.
• Speak punctuation when you talk. It might sound weird at first, but you can create polished, ready-to-send messages by speaking the punctuation as part of the message, such as, "Hello, how are you question mark I am fine period."
• Add entries to the personal dictionary. You can add specialized words you use often, as well as names of people and places Android has trouble understanding. To add to the dictionary, search the Settings app for Personal dictionary. 
• Avoid noisy environments. You’ll get better results by dictating in quiet spaces.