How to Dictate Text Instead of Typing on Your Phone

Typing on a small phone screen can be frustrating — especially if you have larger fingers, or if your hands aren't as steady as they used to be. The good news: you don't have to type. You can talk to your phone and it will type for you, almost perfectly.

This feature is called voice-to-text (or dictation). And it works in messages, emails, notes, web searches, and almost anywhere else you'd normally type.

How to use it on iPhone:

1. 1Open any app where you normally type — like Messages, Mail, or Notes.
2. 2Tap where you'd normally type to open the keyboard.
3. 3Look for a microphone icon on the keyboard — it's usually near the space bar at the bottom.
4. 4Tap the microphone.
5. 5Speak clearly and naturally. Your words appear on screen as you talk.
6. 6When you're done, tap the microphone again or tap "Done."

You can say punctuation out loud: say "period" for a period, "comma" for a comma, "exclamation mark" for !, or "new line" to start a new paragraph.

How to use it on Android:

1. 1Open any app where you type.
2. 2Tap the text box to open the keyboard.
3. 3Look for the microphone icon on the keyboard (usually in the top row or near the space bar).
4. 4Tap it and start speaking.
5. 5Tap the microphone again to stop.

If you don't see a microphone icon, you can also press and hold the space bar on Google's keyboard to switch to voice mode.

Using Siri or Google Assistant to send messages hands-free:

On iPhone: Say "Hey Siri, send a text to [person's name] saying [your message]." On Android: Say "Hey Google, send a text to [person's name]."

Your assistant will read the message back to you and ask you to confirm before sending.