How to turn on voice typing on Android (and make it good)
Android's voice typing is one tap away once you know where it lives. Here is the setup, the common fixes, and the upgrade to text that is ready to send.
- Gboard mic setup and fixes
- Assistant voice typing on Pixel
- A voice 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 Gboard voice typing
With Gboard as your keyboard, tap any text field and press the microphone icon on the top right of the keyboard. If the mic is missing: open Gboard settings, Voice typing, and switch it on. On Pixel phones, Assistant voice typing adds faster, on-device recognition with automatic punctuation.
If voice typing is not working
Check three things: Gboard has microphone permission (App info, Permissions), Google's speech services are updated in the Play Store, and your input language matches what you speak. Bluetooth earbuds with a weak mic are a common source of garbage transcripts; try the phone's own mic to compare.
From words to messages: the Speechy keyboard
Speechy ships a real Android keyboard (an IME). Hold the Dictation key and your words arrive cleaned up. Hold Clarity and the ramble comes back as the finished message, right inside WhatsApp, Gmail, or wherever you are typing. Undo is one tap if you want your literal words back.
The big-name dictation apps do not ship on Android at all. Speechy is native there, free to start, with no account and no API key.
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.
Where is the microphone on my Android keyboard?
On Gboard it is the mic icon in the top right of the keyboard. If it is missing, enable Voice typing in Gboard settings and check the microphone permission.
What is the best voice typing keyboard for Android?
If you want formatting, Speechy: it is a real IME whose AI turns what you say into clean, sendable text inside any app. Gboard is fine for raw words.
Related comparisons & guides
Stop rewriting your thoughts.
Say the messy version. Send the clean one. Your first 10 messages are free, no account, no card.