Which dictation apps collect your data?

Most dictation apps declare some data collection, but only some of it is tied to you. Of the 84 dictation apps in our data, 27 apps ¹ say the developer collects no data. Another 18 apps ² collect data that is not linked to you, 32 apps ³ link data to you, and 7 apps ⁴ use data to track you. These are the apps' own App Store privacy labels, read on October 29, 2026. They are claims by the developers, and Apple does not verify them.

The largest group of dictation apps links data to you

"Data linked to you" is the most common label among dictation apps: 32 apps ³, against 27 apps ¹ that collect nothing. It is still not a majority, because 84 apps split four ways. The group is the largest of the four. Apple's section "Data linked to you" means the developer collects data that can be tied to your identity, such as an email address, a name or a user ID.

Examples from the rows we track: SpeakUp Dictation lists an email address ⁵, SayToType lists an email address and a name ⁶, NeverTyping lists a device ID and an email address ⁷, and TypeWhisper lists a device ID, purchase history and a user ID ⁸. Pulita, a Mac app, also lists audio data among the data linked to you ⁹.

Across all kinds of apps in the dataset, labels in this group list a median of 7 data types ¹⁰. Labels in the "not linked" group list a median of 3 data types ¹¹, so linked labels list more than twice as many.

Showing 8 of 32 rows. See every row in the dataset.

Almost a third of dictation apps say they collect nothing

Of the 84 dictation apps, 27 apps ¹ carry the label "Data not collected", which is almost a third. The share is about the same as in the whole dataset, where 136 apps ¹⁵ of 428 carry it. The ones we track as dictation apps with this label are all Mac listings: iDict ¹⁶, ShabdaTara ¹⁷, Lesskeys ¹⁸ and JustScribe ¹⁹.

A further 18 apps ² collect something but say it is not linked to you. Viska ²⁰, Spokenly ²¹, VivaDicta ²² and VoiceInk ²³ are examples. "Not linked" means the data is collected but kept apart from your identity, so it is less personal than the group above, not zero.

Fewer than one in ten dictation apps use data to track you

Only 7 apps ⁴ of the 84 dictation apps declare data used to track you, which is under one in ten. In the dataset as a whole the label appears on 73 apps ²⁴, so dictation apps declare it at about half the overall rate. Willow Voice lists Advertising Data ²⁵. Diktiro lists an email address and a user ID ²⁶. OpenWhispr lists a device ID and product interaction ²⁷. Voiskey lists a device ID and a user ID ²⁸. Our companion question on whether voice-to-text apps track you covers what these data types mean: do voice-to-text apps track you.

A label is the developer's own declaration

Apple does not check the labels before showing them ²⁹. A 2023 study of apps in general found that almost all apps labeled "Data Not Collected" had privacy policies indicating otherwise ³⁰. That study was not about dictation apps, so it does not say how many of the apps above are wrong. It does mean "Data not collected" is a claim to check, not a certificate.

Other limits of the numbers:

• The label covers the app, not the developer's website or other apps, and one label covers every storefront.
• Each app appears once, on its iPhone and iPad listing, or its Mac listing when it has no iPhone one. The dataset holds 428 data points ³¹ in total.
• The label names the most far-reaching section. An app shown under "Data used to track you" usually also lists data linked to you.
• A cloud app that sends your voice for transcription and does not keep it need not declare audio data. A "no data" label therefore does not prove your voice stays on the device. Our page on whether transcription apps keep your audio goes into this.
• No dictation app in the data shows "No details provided", so every one of the 84 has a label to read.

What this means for choosing a dictation app

If you want the least data shared, start with apps whose label says "Data not collected", then read the privacy policy, because the label alone can be wrong. If you accept some collection, "not linked to you" is a weaker claim than "no data" but a stronger one than "linked to you". Treat "used to track you" as the point where you should read what the developer does with it. Our own app is not in these counts. If you dictate medical, legal or client material, the label is a starting point only: compare it with what the developer says about retention in the full dataset and in the data on how long voice data is kept.

For a wider comparison of products, see the market overview. For the basics of how voice typing handles your recordings, read the guide to whether voice to text is safe and the overview of voice privacy.