Is iPhone dictation private?

Mostly, yes, but the answer depends on where you dictate and what you have switched on. On-device dictation is the strongest case: Apple says dictation is processed on the iPhone and needs no internet connection in the supported languages ¹. The cases that change the answer are server dictation, which Apple stores only if you opt in, search fields, and third-party keyboards. The rest of this page covers each one and what to do about it.

Dictation processed on the iPhone does not need to send audio anywhere

When dictation runs on the phone, there is no server step to worry about. Apple's iPhone guide says dictation is processed on the iPhone in many languages and needs no internet connection ¹. The same route is what makes offline dictation work, so the privacy benefit and the offline benefit come from one setting: whether the speech is recognized on the device.

You can check which route is in use. Apple says your device shows in Keyboard settings whether dictated audio and transcripts are processed on the device or sent to Apple's servers ². Look there before you dictate anything sensitive.

Server dictation is not stored unless you opt in

When dictation does go to Apple's servers, Apple's privacy page says that it is not stored unless you turn on the Improve Siri and Dictation setting ³. That is the default position: the opt-in is the switch that changes what Apple keeps.

The opt-in has consequences, and Apple states them:

• Audio samples are stored. Apple says the setting allows it to store and review a sample of the audio of your Siri and Dictation interactions ⁴.
• Access is limited. For people who opt in, Apple says only its own employees, under confidentiality obligations, can access that audio ⁵. Read these as Apple's own description of its policy. They are not an independent audit of what Apple does, so if the audio matters to you, keep the opt-in off.

Search fields send your words to the search engine

A search field is the main exception even when the recognition runs on the phone. Apple says that when you dictate in a search field on an iPhone, "the dictated text may be sent to the search engine to process the search" ⁶. Your words are then a search query, which is a different kind of record from a note.

If you want dictation to stay out of search, dictate into a note, a message or a document instead, then copy the text into the search field.

Third-party keyboards can reach the network only with Full Access

Third-party keyboards are a separate case. Apple's developer documentation says a custom keyboard runs in a sandbox that disallows network access by default, and that users must switch on Allow Full Access to change this ⁷. A keyboard without Full Access cannot send your speech over the network on its own.

Full Access is therefore the setting to check. Google's Gboard on iPhone is an example of a keyboard that sends voice input away from the phone. Google's App Store listing says voice input from the Gboard microphone "is sent to Google for transcription" ⁸. If you use a keyboard like that, its privacy policy matters more than the iPhone's built-in dictation.

What to do to keep dictation private on iPhone

1. Check the route. Look at the Keyboard settings indicator for whether dictation is on the device or sent to Apple ².
2. Keep the opt-in off unless you want Apple to store and review audio samples, which is the only case where Apple stores them ³.
3. Dictate into notes or messages, not search fields. A search field can send your words out as a query ⁶.
4. Leave Full Access off for any third-party keyboard unless you need it, and read that keyboard's privacy policy before you turn it on ⁷.

Where the answer is less clear

Apple's pages describe the built-in dictation. They do not cover the apps and keyboards you install, and they do not say how long on-device recognition keeps data in every case, so do not read a general "private" as a promise about every app. For offline use in particular, the airplane mode test in our guide to offline voice typing shows whether a language runs on the phone at all.

The Android side is harder to settle. The sources we could open did not include a current Google or Samsung statement on what happens to keyboard voice audio, so read the privacy settings in your own keyboard before you assume it is local. For the other questions on this topic, see does iPhone dictation work offline and the best offline speech to text app for Android. The Mac version of this question is does Apple Dictation work without internet.

For the setting itself, see Improve Siri and Dictation. For the general question of voice privacy, read is voice to text safe. For the wider overview, start with dictation on phones and tablets.