Which dictation app supports the most languages?

On the figures we could verify, Google's Gboard keyboard has the largest count for a dictation app. The figure is from 2017, and it counts language varieties, not a clean list of languages. We found no current number from a dictation app that can be compared directly with the others, so a count alone will not tell you which app will work for you.

Gboard has the largest count we could verify, but it dates from 2017

In August 2017 Google said its speech recognition supported 119 language varieties, in Gboard on Android and in other products ¹. A variety can be a language spoken in one region, so 119 is not 119 separate languages. In the sources we could open, Google has not published a newer count for Gboard. Read 119 as the last figure Google stated, not as today's total.

Other figures come from developer services and models, not dictation apps

Google's Cloud Speech-to-Text product page says the service supports over 125 languages ². That is a developer service that software calls, not a dictation app you can use in a text box. Whisper, the open speech model, was trained on data in 99 languages ³. That is a training figure. An app built on Whisper can offer more or fewer languages, depending on what its developers chose to include. For the Google service in detail, see how many languages Google Speech-to-Text supports, and for the model, see the guide to Whisper's supported languages.

Built-in lists are shorter, and they count in different ways

Windows 11 voice typing lists 46 languages and locales ⁴. The main list for Dictate in Microsoft Word has 15 entries, with a separate preview list ⁵. Apple's list for Dictation on iPhone and iPad is organized by language and region, so English appears several times for different countries ⁶. The Apple page we checked gives no total, and counting its entries gives language and region pairs, not new languages, so its list cannot be set against the single figures above. For the full local lists, see the guides on Windows dictation languages and Mac dictation languages.

A long list does not mean the tool works well in your language

A list says a tool has been built for a language. It does not say the tool works offline, adds punctuation, or is accurate in that language. Windows voice typing needs an internet connection ⁷, so a language on that list does nothing for you when you are offline. Accuracy also varies from one language to the next. Our question on accuracy in other languages explains why a supported language can still be much less accurate than English.

What to do

1. Write down your exact language and region, such as Spanish (Mexico) rather than just Spanish.
2. Open the vendor's own list for the app you plan to use, not a third-party roundup.
3. Check whether the app works offline for your language, and whether it adds punctuation in that language. The guide to dictation languages sets out the checks.
4. Dictate five minutes of your own writing in the language, then count the errors. The glossary entry on word error rate shows how the count works.
5. If the first app makes many errors, try a second one on the same sample before you decide.

Yap, which we make, is an on-device dictation app for Mac and Windows. Its current language list is on the download page. Our guide to dictation languages compares the lists side by side.