Why is my iPhone dictating everything I say?

When an iPhone types everything you say, the first cause to check is Voice Control, which is a separate feature from the Dictation key. Apple documents how Voice Control treats the words you say, so you can test that cause directly. A second report, where the text appears twice, is less clear, and Apple's pages do not explain it.

Voice Control types every word that is not a command

Apple's command table for Voice Control on iPhone describes the setting that does this. Its Dictation mode, Apple says, is on by default, and "Any words you say that aren’t Voice Control commands are entered as text. Dictation mode is on by default." ¹ So while Voice Control is listening, speech you did not mean as a command becomes text. That is what "dictating everything" looks like on the screen.

Apple also says that when Voice Control is on, standard Dictation is not available: "When Voice Control is on, you use Voice Control to dictate text; standard iOS Dictation isn't available." ² If you turned on the Dictation key and see Voice Control's behavior instead, this is a likely reason.

Check the status bar and the setup screen

Voice Control shows its state in the status bar. Apple says that after the download, "a microphone will appear in the status bar of your device that indicates that Voice Control is listening or not listening." ³ If that microphone symbol is there, Voice Control is on, and you can turn it off.

The setup screen is in Settings, then Accessibility, then Voice Control ⁴. Open it to see whether Voice Control is on. After setup, you can also turn it off from Control Center, from the Accessibility Shortcut, or by asking Siri ⁵.

Doubled text is a separate report, and Apple does not explain it

Some users report that everything they say appears twice. One post I found in search results says that both Dictation and Voice Control were switched on at the time. Apple's description is that standard Dictation is not available while Voice Control is on ², so a setup where both seem to run does not match Apple's own description. I could not confirm the cause of the doubling, and I found no fix from Apple.

To test it, turn off Voice Control, open Notes, tap the microphone key, and say one sentence. If the sentence appears once, Voice Control was the cause. If it still doubles, turn Enable Dictation off and on, restart the iPhone, and test again. If it doubles after that, report it to Apple Support with the iOS version and the app.

What to do if your iPhone types everything you say

1. Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then tap Voice Control and look at its switch.
2. Turn Voice Control off if you want standard Dictation. Use the status bar microphone to confirm that it has stopped listening.
3. Test in Notes: tap the microphone key on the keyboard, say a sentence, and check that it appears once.
4. If you need Voice Control for other tasks, keep it on, and expect Dictation mode to type the words that are not commands.
5. If standard Dictation still fails after you turn Voice Control off, reset dictation with the steps in the question on resetting dictation on iPhone.

If the Dictation key turns off on its own, read why iPhone dictation keeps turning off. For the full set of checks, use the guide to iPhone dictation that is not working, and for the subject as a whole, see dictation and voice to text on iPhone and Android.