Fact · Dictation on phones and tablets
In 2017, TechCrunch explained that Apple does not let third-party keyboards use the microphone, so Gboard's voice typing runs in the Gboard app, which is allowed to use it.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“Apple doesn’t let third party keyboards access the microphone, but third party applications”
Google's iOS Keyboard gets the one feature it really lacked: voice typing, Greg Kumparak, TechCrunch, 2017, Article body, paragraph after the activation steps.
Open the original- What it measures
- The article describes the iOS keyboard design: the keyboard opens a screen in the parent app, transcribes the speech there, and returns the text to the last text field.
- What it does not show
- A 2017 explanation of how iOS treated keyboards at the time. Apple's rules for keyboards may have changed since, so check the current app before relying on the mechanism.