Glossary
Improve Siri & Dictation
Improve Siri & Dictation is the Mac setting that controls whether Apple may store and review audio from your Siri and Dictation requests. When you first turn on Dictation, the same choice is labeled Share Audio Recordings.
Updated October 16, 20264 cited facts, each traced to its source
Also called Share Audio Recordings.
Improve Siri & Dictation is the Apple setting that decides whether audio from your Siri and Dictation requests can be stored and reviewed. It appears under two names. When you turn on Dictation, the choice is called Share Audio Recordings, and choosing it allows Apple to store audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions and to review a sample of it 1. You can change the choice later. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements, where the same switch is labeled Improve Siri & Dictation 2.
Audio is not stored unless you opt in
When dictation is processed on Apple's servers, Apple says it is not stored unless you opt in to Improve Siri and Dictation 3. So the setting is the switch between a request that Apple processes and a recording that Apple keeps. Read it as the default being no storage, and an explicit yes before anything is kept.
Opted-in audio can be reviewed, but only by Apple staff
For people who opt in, Apple says only its own employees, under strict confidentiality obligations, can access the audio of Siri and Dictation interactions 4. That is Apple's description of its own practice. It is not an independent audit, so if you dictate material that must stay private, such as client records or health information, read the privacy guide before you decide.
The setting is separate from where recognition runs
Whether your words are processed on the Mac or sent to Apple's servers is a different question. It depends on the language and the macOS version, as the privacy guide explains. Changing Improve Siri & Dictation does not switch that processing on or off, so check both settings when privacy matters.
Related terms
- Siri: Apple's voice assistant, which uses the same audio interactions that this setting covers.
- Dictation: speaking so that your words are written as you say them. The setting covers the audio from Dictation as well as from Siri.
- Microphone key: the key on Mac keyboards that starts Dictation.
Guides that cover it
Evidence
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Related terms
- Mac Dictation: How to Dictate and Control a Mac by VoiceThe topic this term belongs to
- Accessibility permission (macOS)Accessibility permission is a macOS setting that lets a specific app read and control other apps through the system's accessibility features. macOS keeps it under Privacy & Security, and an app gets no access until you allow it there.
- Apple DictationApple Dictation is the free, built-in feature that types what you say into any text field on a Mac. Apple also calls it Mac Dictation, macOS Dictation or keyboard dictation.
- Apple IntelligenceApple Intelligence is the name Apple gives to its AI features across its devices. Its on-device models can improve Dictation on newer Macs, and Apple says apps can use the same models.
- Apple siliconApple silicon is the family of chips Apple designs for its own computers, starting with certain Macs in late 2020. Each chip puts several computer components on one piece of silicon, which Apple calls a system on a chip.
- Enhanced DictationEnhanced Dictation was a Mac option, available from OS X Mavericks, that lets you dictate without an internet connection after a download. Apple's help for macOS Mojave describes it, but Apple's later Dictation pages do not mention it.
- Globe key (Fn key)The Globe key, also called the Fn key or function key, is a modifier on Apple keyboards. In Keyboard settings you choose what a press does, such as switching input source, starting Dictation or doing nothing.
- Microphone key (dictation key)The Microphone key is a key on some Mac keyboards that starts Apple Dictation when you press and release it. Pressing and holding it activates Siri instead, if Siri is turned on.
- Neural EngineThe Apple Neural Engine (ANE) is a block of hardware inside Apple's chips that runs machine learning models efficiently. Speech models can run on it, and Apple uses it for on-device machine learning inference.
- SiriSiri is Apple's built-in voice assistant. You speak a request and it answers or carries out an action, while Dictation types what you say into a text field instead.
- Speech framework (Apple)The Speech framework is Apple's developer toolkit for turning audio into text inside an app. It includes the older SFSpeechRecognizer class and the newer SpeechAnalyzer, which Apple says transcribes entirely on the device once its models are downloaded.
- Voice Control (Apple)Voice Control is Apple's feature for controlling a Mac with spoken commands, including opening apps, clicking items and editing text. When it is on, it also handles dictation, so standard macOS Dictation is not available.
- VoiceOverVoiceOver is the screen reader built into macOS, which speaks what is on the screen so you can use the Mac without seeing it. It does the reverse of dictation: it reads text aloud rather than writing your speech.
Pages that use this term
- Mac Dictation: How to Dictate and Control a Mac by VoiceTopic
- How to Use Dictation on a MacGuide
- How to Use Dictation on iPhone (Voice to Text)Guide
- Dictation on Apple Watch: How to Use and Fix ItGuide
- Is Apple Dictation Private? What Apple KeepsGuide
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- How do I delete my voice recordings from Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft?Question
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- Is Apple Dictation HIPAA compliant?Question
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