Can you use Gboard voice typing on iPhone?

Yes, Gboard added voice typing on iPhone in February 2017. You hold the microphone icon on the space bar for a second or two, and then release it ¹. Gboard's privacy text in the App Store says that voice input from its microphone is sent to Google for transcription ². We could not confirm the current iPhone steps, because Google's help page was unavailable when we checked and the newest iPhone report we could open is from 2017.

The iPhone version starts from the space bar, not from a menu

The 2017 launch report describes the activation step directly: hold the microphone icon on the space bar for a second or two, then release it ¹. The speech is then handled by the Gboard app rather than the keyboard, as explained below.

The reason for the separate step is an Apple rule. The article explains that Apple does not let third-party keyboards access the microphone, but third-party apps can ³. So the Gboard keyboard hands the listening step to the Gboard app. That is why the iPhone version works differently from the Android microphone key in the guide to voice typing on Android.

Your speech leaves the phone for transcription

The privacy point matters more than the feature list. The App Store listing says that if you use Gboard's microphone, voice input is sent to Google for transcription ². That is the developer's statement, and we did not test what the app sends. Treat it as the clearest statement we could open for the iPhone version.

If you dictate private material, you may prefer dictation that stays on the device. The guide to offline voice typing compares offline options on iPhone and Android.

What we could not confirm about Gboard on iPhone

Three things are unconfirmed. First, the 2017 steps may have changed, so the menu and gesture on your version may differ. Second, we could not confirm which languages and punctuation phrases work on iPhone, so do not assume the Android list applies. Third, the Android steps include a permission choice and a toolbar, and we did not find a current iPhone help page that describes them.

These gaps are why we do not give a full iPhone recipe here. Test your own language in the app before you rely on it for something important.

If you want dictation on iPhone without Gboard

Your iPhone has its own dictation, which you start from the keyboard's microphone key. The guide to dictation on iPhone explains where the key is and how to use it. If you want a third-party app, the comparison of dictation apps for iPhone and Android sets the options side by side, with their privacy and language limits. The glossary entry on Gboard explains the app.

Check the App Store listing before you install

The App Store listing shows the latest version and the date of its last update. Look at that date before you install or rely on the app. If the listing shows no recent update, the voice features may no longer change, and the built-in iPhone dictation may be the better choice.

For the Android version of this topic, see where voice typing is on Android. For the commands you can say on Android, see the question on Gboard voice typing commands.