How to dictate on iPhone (built-in, and the keyboard upgrade)
The iPhone mic key types what it hears. Good for a search box, rough for a real message. Here is the built-in way and the upgrade.
- Enable dictation in Settings once
- Mic key on the keyboard, then talk
- Hold-to-talk keyboard that formats
ugh tell maya i can't make saturday dinner work blew up and i feel terrible but can we do next week instead
Hey Maya, I can't make Saturday dinner, work blew up. Really sorry. Can we do next week instead?
Tap a style. Same thought, a different landing.
Turn on and use Apple dictation
Go to Settings, General, Keyboard, and enable Dictation. Then tap the microphone key on the bottom of the keyboard in any app and start talking; tap it again to stop. Recent iPhones handle punctuation automatically to a degree, and you can always speak it: "comma", "question mark", "new paragraph".
The honest limits
Dictation gives you your words verbatim, ums, false starts and all. It does not restructure a rambling thought into a clear message, cannot change tone, and long dictations tend to drift into run-ons you edit by thumb, which is the slowest editing there is.
The Speechy keyboard: talk, release, send
Speechy is a custom iPhone keyboard with two hold-to-talk keys. Dictation returns your words cleaned up. Clarity returns the message you meant: right tone, right shape, addressed to the person you were talking about. It lands directly in the text field, no copy-paste dance, with one-tap undo.
Free to start, no account, no API key, and your Mac and PC get the same engine.
More than transcription, it frames the message.
Speak or type the messy version, and Speechy hands back the sendable one: the right tone, structure and context, in whatever app you're already in.
The message, not the transcript
Most voice apps stop at words on a page. Speechy gives you the message: the right tone, length and language, ready to send.
24 styles, one tap
Flirty, Firm, Diplomatic, Professional, Gen Z and 19 more. Keep your 5 on the keyboard and switch mid-conversation.
A real keyboard on iPhone and iPad
Every layout you use, with autocorrect and suggestions, plus the mic. On Mac, one shortcut in any app. Windows and Android are on the way.
Think in one language, send in another
Speak the way you think and send it in your keyboard's language, or any of 12.
Good questions, straight answers.
Why is there no microphone on my iPhone keyboard?
Enable Dictation under Settings, General, Keyboard. If it is on and still missing, check Screen Time content restrictions, and that your keyboard language supports dictation.
Can iPhone dictation add punctuation automatically?
Newer iOS versions punctuate as you speak, imperfectly. Speaking punctuation still works. For paragraphs, tone and structure, an AI formatting layer like Speechy does the writing for you.
Stop rewriting your thoughts.
Say the messy version. Send the clean one. Your first 10 messages are free, no account, no card.