How to Use iPhone Speech-to-Text: A Complete Guide
The iPhone's speech-to-text feature, which is also termed the dictation, helps the users to convert the spoken words into text quickly. Regardless of whether you're writing notes, sending a message, or composing an email, the tool will help you enhance and save time.
Although a lot of users are unable to learn how to disable or enable the speech-to-text feature. This guide is all set to introduce the outstanding ways to help you turn on or off the iPhone speech-to-text on iPhone.
Part 1: Can an iPhone Convert Speech to Text?
Yes, iPhone devices come with a built-in speech-to-text feature called Dictation that tends to convert spoken words into written text.
The feature is offered by the Siri speech recognition feature that works in multiple apps, including third-party applications, Safari, Notes and Messages. The Live Transcription features of the Apple also offer the real-time captions for spoken audio, enhancing the accessibility of the speech-to-text feature.
Part 2: How to Turn on and Off Speech to Text on iPhone?
If you want to know how to turn on Speech to text features or turn it off for various purposes, you can look at the guide below to get things done.
Here's how to turn on Speech to Text on iPhone.
Step 1: Start the iPhone settings and then press the General icon before clicking on it.
Step 2: Press on the Keyboard button and then turn on the dictation mode by clicking the Enable Dictation button.
Step 3: Now, you'll need to accept the pop-up information asking for permission to turn on the feature. That's all you've had to do to turn on the voice dictation.

Here's how to turn off speech-to-text on iPhone.
Step 1: Start the settings and then click on the General icon.
Step 2: Press on the Keyboard and then turn off the Enable Dictation icon from there.

Part 3: Why is iPhone Speech to Text Not Working?
If you're struggling with the ''iPhone Speech to Text not working'' issue, there could be the following reasons behind the issue.
1. No internet connection
Since dictation works in some cases, accurate speech recognition will require a fast internet connection.
2. Dictation is Disabled
If you've turned off the Dictation, you won't be able to use the iPhone text-to-speech-to-text feature.
3. Microphone Issues
A faulty or blocked microphone could prevent the iOS device from recognizing the speech.
4. Outdated or Software Bugs
If you're using the outdated iOS version, using the speech to text or text to speech feature on iPhone won't be a possibility.
Part 4: What is the Best iPhone App for Speech to Text?
Although several tools are available that help you to turn the speech into text, finding the best speech to text app for iPhone remains a difficult job. We've listed the three reliable tools below that help you to transform the speech into text.
1. Otter.AI
Otter.AI is a brilliant tool for transcribing meetings, interviews and lectures with AI-powered accuracy. Apart from bringing a simple user interface, Otter.ai doesn't ask you to pay even a penny to turn the speech into text.
2. Just Press Record
This app offers a simple user interface and you can use it for voice recording and various other parameters. Just Press Record also contains the transcription with the iCloud sync and to transform the speech into text, you'll only need to visit the timeline of the Just Press Record.
3. Google Docs Voice Typing
Google Docs Voice Typing could come into the contention of the best iPhone Speech to Text app courtesy of its brilliant speech to text conversion attributes. If you want to aim at real-time dictation, going for Google Docs Voice Typing is surely one of the best things to go ahead with.
Part 5: Bonus tip: Best Desktop Speech to Text App to Convert iPhone Video Speech
HitPaw Univd is by far the best way to convert the speech into text description and while turning the speech into text, HitPaw Univd tends to retain the overall quality of the audio of the video file. Since HitPaw Univd supports batch processing, you'll be able to transform multiple video or audio files into written text simultaneously.
Main Features of HitPaw Univd
- Allows you to turn the speech to text
- Offers a simple user interface, no technical knowledge is required
- Compatible with Mac and Windows
- Allows you to convert multiple speech-to-text iPhone files simultaneously
- Supports multiple audio and video formats
- Brings in several outstanding audio and video editing features
How to convert speech to text on iPhone via HitPaw Univd?
Step 1: Start the HitPaw UnivdAfter installing the HitPaw Univd, you'll need to select the Speech To Text feature after visiting the Toolbox button.

Step 2: Add an audio or video file
Now, you'll need to import the audio or video file into the speech-to-text interface.

Step 3: Choose the language and output format
Once you're done adding the audio or video file, you'll need to choose the preffred output language and format.

Step 4: Press on the Create
In this phase, you'll need to hit the Create button before choosing the primary language and output format.

Step 5: Export the written text description
After the completion of the speech recognition, you'll need to preview the video and then hit the Export icon to download the text description into the computer. If you've got a fast internet connection, HitPaw Univd will only take a few moments before saving the text description into the computer in original quality.
Part 6: FAQs about iPhone Speech-to-Text
Q1. Is Speech to Text available on iPhone?
A1. Yes, iPhone devices come up with a speech feature called Dictation that helps you to convert the spoken words into text in multiple apps, including Safari, Notes and Messages. Moreover, iOS 17 also introduced the Live Transcription offering the real-time captions for spoken audio.
Q2. Is iPhone Speech to Text good?
A2. Apple's Dictation feature is highly accurate and fast. Dictation is compatible with multiple languages and it tends to understand the context well along with improving with each iOS update. Unfortunately, if you're staying in a noisy environment, the accuracy of the Dictation could decrease, so you can look at the tops like Otter.ai or Just Press Record for better accuracy.
Conclusion
The iPhone speech-to-text feature is a brilliant tool for converting spoken words into text descriptions, making note-taking and communication look more convenient and better. We've listed the detailed guide to help you learn how to turn on or off the iPhone Dictations, and you can also explore the outstanding ways to transform the speech into text description. HitPaw Univd remains the best way to turn speech into text without affecting the quality of the videos.
While converting the video into the written text description, HitPaw Univd tends to maintain the overall quality of the file and since it supports batch processing, you'll be able to turn the multiple video files into a text file simultaneously.
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Daniel Walker
Editor-in-Chief
My passion lies in bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and everyday creativity. With years of hands-on experience, I create content that not only informs but inspires our audience to embrace digital tools confidently.
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