iOS 16 Voice To Text not working? How to fix

Apple’s dictation tool is very efficient when it comes to converting your voice to text and can be used from any app or screen on your iPhone. With iOS 16, you can now use both dictation and the onscreen keyboard when sending messages, taking notes, or searching for something in apps. Additionally, dictation on iOS 16 is also enabled with automatic punctuation, meaning your iPhone will add a period or question mark as it recognizes your speech.

If you’ve recently updated your iPhone to iOS 16 but have had problems with dictation, the following post should help you solve them so you can continue using your voice to enter text across apps.

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Solution #1: Make sure Dictation is enabled on your iPhone

Voice to text will only work on your iPhone if you have dictation enabled on iOS. Otherwise, you won’t be able to use your voice to type text in any app on your iPhone. To enable dictation on your iPhone, open the settings App, go to General > keyboard and turn it on Enable dictation toggle.

You can check if voice to text is working on your iPhone now.

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Solution #2: Make Sure You’re Using Voice-to-Text Properly

If dictation is enabled on your device but you still can’t type text in an app, you’re probably using it incorrectly. Before you go ahead and try to troubleshoot an issue, make sure you’re using voice-to-text correctly. To use this feature, open an app or screen and tap a text field where you want to type text.

When the native keyboard appears, tap microphone icon at the bottom right corner.

This should activate dictation mode on your iPhone and during this time the microphone icon will be highlighted in a darker circle in the bottom right corner.

With this mode enabled, you can now enter text using your voice, and your iPhone will automatically insert the recognized text into the text field along with the appropriate punctuation marks. Voice-to-text should work properly if you can hear your voice through your iPhone’s microphone. If dictation can’t capture every word you say, try speaking louder towards the microphone. You can also use voice-to-text to insert emoji into a message just by saying “crying emoji” or “overwhelmed emoji.”

When you’re done typing the text you want, you can turn off dictation by tapping highlighted microphone icon at the bottom right corner.

You can also tap Microphone icon marked with an “x”. that may appear anywhere in the text box you typed into.

Fix #3: Reboot your iPhone

Voice-to-text isn’t a new feature in iOS 16, but there’s still a chance that the tool might misbehave on a device for a variety of reasons. If you’ve been able to use dictation before and it’s only recently that the feature is causing you problems, you can try restarting your device to fix the problem. You can restart your iPhone by following these instructions:

• On iPhones with Face ID (iPhone X, 11, 12, 13, and 14 series): Press and hold side button and one of the volume buttons until you see the power off slider. When the slider appears, drag it to the right to turn off your iPhone. After your iPhone has completely shut down, wait 30 seconds and then press and hold side button until the Apple logo appears.
• On iPhones with Touch ID (iPhone SE 2nd/3rd generation and iPhone 8): Press and hold side button until you see the power off slider. When the slider appears, drag it to the right to turn off your iPhone. After your iPhone has completely shut down, wait 30 seconds and then press and hold side button until the Apple logo appears.

After a successful reboot, you can now check if voice-to-text is working as shown in fix #2.

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Fix #4: Switch to another dictation language

If the main language you use to dictate is English, chances are your iPhone cannot recognize your version of the language. Many users have reported that they managed to get voice-to-text working on their iPhones when switching from English (US) to English (UK) or English (Canada). If you are currently using English (US) or another version of the language, you can switch to a different version by opening the settings app and go to General > keyboard > Add new keyboard.

From the list that appears, select a language that you can use to confirm. If your primary language is English, you can try switching to English (UK), English (Canada), or a language from your own region.

Once selected, go back to the keyboard screen (settings > General > keyboard) and select dictation languages.

Here, make sure the newly added language is selected so that your voice will be recognized by your iPhone. If not, tap on the unselected language in this list and make sure it has a check mark next to it.

You can also use this fix to add a language other than English for use with voice-to-text.

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Solution #5: Disable Siri and Dictation Restriction under Screen Time

With Screen Time on iOS, you can see how much time you’ve spent on your iPhone and the apps installed on it. Besides, this tool can also be used to limit your phone usage and prevent some apps from running on your device so that you use your phone less. If dictation is enabled in your keyboard settings but you can’t see the microphone icon when accessing the iOS keyboard, the iOS voice-to-text tool may have been disabled as part of Screen Time restrictions.

For voice-to-text to work, open the settings app and go to screen time > Content and Privacy Restrictions > Approved Applications. On the Allowed Apps screen, verify that the Siri & Dictation switch is turned off. If yes, turn it on Toggle Siri & Dictation to re-enable voice-to-text on your iPhone.

Fix #6: Check if voice-to-text works when power saving mode is disabled

The low power mode on iOS temporarily disables certain features of apps and processes on your iPhone. If you frequently use the low power mode on iOS, sometimes voice to text doesn’t work. You can check if you can use voice-to-text by tapping the microphone after disabling sleep mode on your phone. To turn off low power mode, go to settings > battery and turn it off Low power mode Switch.

If you have added this tile to your control centeryou can swipe down from the top right corner and tap Energy saving mode tile from Control Center to disable it.

Once that is disabled, you can now try typing some text with your voice using the dictation tool.

Fix #7: Update to the latest iOS version

If you’re only having trouble with voice-to-text, the problem might have something to do with a recent iOS update. This seems to be a common problem as many users have complained that dictation stopped working on their devices once they updated to iOS 16. Given the scale of affected users, another update may be on the horizon and that should allow voice-to-text to work again on your device.

To update your iPhone, go to settings > General > software update and check for new updates. If an update is available, tap Download and install to update your iPhone to the latest version.

Fix #8: Check if your iPhone’s microphone is broken

Just like Siri, the voice-to-text tool relies on your iPhone’s microphone to recognize your speech. If you can’t dictate text on your device, you should check if the built-in microphone is working. You can verify by making calls and confirming that the other person can hear your voice. You can also open the Voice Memos app and start a recording to see if the app can recognize your voice and if you can hear it when you play it back.

If everything works fine, the inability to use voice-to-text isn’t due to a hardware issue, it could be your iPhone’s software not being able to use dictation. If so, you can proceed to the next step.

In the event that your phone cannot recognize your voice during a call or voice recording, the microphone is most likely the cause of the problem, which means you will need to take your iPhone to Apple Service to have it repaired.

Solution No.9: Reset your iPhone settings

If none of the above solutions worked in your favor and you just want to use Apple’s native voice-to-text tool, resetting your phone’s settings is the only way to go. While this won’t erase any images and files from your device storage, you may need to set up some of your default settings again on your iPhone to use it your preferred way. To reset all iOS settings, open the settings app and go to Transfer or reset iPhone > Reset to default > Reset all settings.

When you do this, you will be prompted to enter your device passcode. iOS will then reset your iPhone to default settings and restart your device. After your device restarts, enable dictation and see if voice-to-text is working now.

Solution #10: Try voice-to-text on Gboard and alternative apps

The iOS voice-to-text feature is pretty nifty and convenient to use, but if that doesn’t work for you, you can try using other third-party iOS keyboards like Gboard and SwiftKey. Both apps come with their standalone voice-to-text tools to recognize your voice and convert it to text no matter what app you have open on your screen.

If you want to use voice-to-text to transcribe your speech specifically for creating longer content, you can use one of these apps that provide the functionality – Evernote, Just Press Record, Scribe, and Dictation – Speech to Text.

That’s all you need to know to fix voice to text and get it working on iOS 16.

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