Is talk to text an app?

Talk to text is most often the name people use for the microphone key on a phone keyboard. Tap it, speak, and the words appear in the text box. The feature is not a program you open on its own. It belongs to the keyboard or the operating system, which is why the same act looks different on an iPhone, a Samsung phone and a Windows computer.

Talk to text is a feature built into the keyboard

Each maker supplies the microphone key under its own name. On an iPhone it runs Apple's Dictation, and Apple says that with Dictation on iPhone you can dictate text in any place where you can type it ¹. Samsung says its Galaxy phones and tablets have two built-in voice-to-text apps, Samsung voice input and Google Voice Typing, and that Samsung voice input works only with the Samsung Keyboard ². On a Samsung phone, then, the keyboard you use decides which voice tool you get.

On Windows 11 the same act is called voice typing, and you start it by pressing the Windows key + H on a hardware keyboard ³. Nothing needs to be installed for the built-in tools above.

Some talk to text tools do arrive as apps

Two kinds of talk to text do come as apps you can install. The first is Gboard, Google's keyboard. Its App Store listing for iPhone says that voice input from the Gboard microphone is sent to Google for transcription ⁴, which matters if you care where your speech goes. On Android, Gboard's voice typing works in any app where you can type, and Google's examples are Gmail and Keep ⁵. On Android, you start it with the microphone at the top of the keyboard ⁶.

The second is a Google Play listing called Speech Recognition & Synthesis. It describes a voice input engine that you select as your preferred engine ⁷. It is the engine behind voice input rather than a writing tool with its own screen.

The names people search with map to these tools as follows:

The Word row needs one caution. Microsoft says the Dictate feature in the Word desktop app is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers ⁸, so it is not a free talk to text tool.

Third-party dictation apps are a separate choice

Other companies sell dictation apps that work across many programs, with their own shortcuts, languages and privacy settings. Yap, which we make, is one such app for Mac and Windows, and it runs on the device (see download and pricing). The built-in tools need no purchase and are enough for many people, so start with them. Choose an app when you need dictation in programs the built-in tool does not reach. The how to choose a dictation app guide lists what to compare.

What to do if you want talk to text on your phone

1. Open a text box, such as a message, and look for the microphone key on the keyboard. If you see it, tap it and speak.
2. If there is no microphone key, turn on dictation or voice typing in your phone's keyboard or language settings. The menus differ by phone and version, so follow How to Turn On Voice Typing on Every Device.
3. If the tool works in one app but not another, check Dictation Not Working before you install anything.
4. Check whether the tool needs internet. Does dictation work without internet explains which tools do and do not.

Whether any of this costs money is covered in is voice typing free. Talk to text is also not the same as turning a recording into text, which is transcription. For the full subject, read What Is Dictation? and see the dictation and voice typing definitions. If you want the answer for a computer rather than a phone, read can you use talk to text on a computer.