For a long time if you wanted or needed to use a speech-to-text dictation program on your Mac, your only choices were MacSpeech Dictate (now defunct) and Nuance’s DragonDictateStop Typing: Better Learn To Dictate Text with Dragon Dictate for Mobile Devices [iOS]Stop Typing: Better Learn To Dictate Text with Dragon Dictate for Mobile Devices [iOS]Nuance's iPhone apps, Dragon and Dragon Search have been available for free download for over a year now. Since then, the company has added a few other similar voice to text apps to its line..Read More. But with the release of Mountain Lion, Apple has for the first time built text dictation into the operating system.

1. Which Software Is Best For Photo Editing
2. Voice Dictation Software For Mac

• Mac users expect only the best from the applications they use on their Macs. Dragon Dictate for Mac was built from the ground up to ensure the ultimate experience on Mac OS X. Dragon Dictate.
• Another option is the Microcone Recorder product developed by us at Dev-Audio www.dev-audio.com, which is designed specifically for transcription of meetings or other group conversations (as opposed to single person dictation).It has been specifically developed for Mac OS X, and presents an interesting interface to browse transcribed discussions.

What’s the best dictation software for mac? Without question, it’s Dragon Dictate also known as Dragon for Mac. Although, the Mac operating system includes in-built dictation software it’s not as reliable or fast as Dragon. You will see a message warning you that using your Mac’s dictation option the way it’s currently set up will send your spoken text to Apple to be converted. Click Enable Dictation.

This feature allows you to actually speak sentences into your Mac’s microphone and see them typed out for you, a lot faster than you could type what you say. Apple’s Dictation feature works similarly to how it does in the iPhone 4S.

However, while the Mountain Lion Dictation feature is a welcome addition to the upgraded OS, it does have limitations you should know about, especially if you’re curious about using text dictation for longer pieces of writing. This article explains how to use Dictation and what its limitations are.

How Dictation Works

Which Software Is Best For Photo Editing

In OS X 10.8, you can call up the Dictation feature in any text application on the Mac by pressing the Fn (Function) button on your keyboard. When prompted to do so, clearly speak a sentence or two of text (say the word, “period” at the end of your sentence) and then hit the Fn or Return key after you’re finished. In a second or two your words will be typed, Star Trek style, faster than you could type them manually.

To add more text, just press the Fn key again. Each of your sentences will automatically begin with a capital letter. And if you speak clearly and directly, the Dictation feature can be pretty accurate most of the time. Also, you can pause and think about what you’re going to say before you say it, and Dictation will wait. So don’t feel intimidated into speaking quickly.

If you open System Preferences > Dictation & Speech, you can change the shortcut for activating Dictation, as well as turn it on and off. You can also choose the mic (if you have more than one connected to your Mac) for listening to your dictation.

However, make note of what it says in the About Dictation and Privacy. In order to use Dictation, your Mac must be connected to the Internet. If it does not work, it’s probably because your Mac is experiencing problems with the router connection.

One of the drawbacks with using Dictation is that you must be connected to the Internet, and what you say will be recorded and sent to Apple, including other information in your computer, including the contact names (first names and nicknames) in your Address Book (renamed Contacts in Mountain Lion). Apple says that:

“All of this data is used to help the dictation feature understand you better and recognize what you say. Your User Data is not linked to other data that Apple may have from your use of other Apple services.”

You can disable Dictation, but when you do so, all your user data on Apple’s side will be deleted, as well as your recent voice input data. You can read the rest of the privacy policy for yourself, but apparently collecting this data makes the feature over time more accurate. Nevertheless, there should be a way to use the feature without an Internet connection.

When To Use It

Apple’s Dictation feature is highly welcomed, especially for those of us with poor typing, spelling, or hand disabilities. However, because you can’t see what you dictate until after you click the shortcut key, the Dictation feature is most useful for writing short emails, comments, tweets and notes. It’s not useful for long pieces of writing.

The most widely used dictation program for the Mac has been Nuances DragonDictate and Dragon Express. With these programs, your dictations get typed immediately after you pause or come to full stop in a sentence. You can also verbally edit your dictated text as you “write.” This cannot be done with Apple’s Dictation feature.

Dragon Express does not seem to be updated yet for Mountain Lion. DragonDictate does appear to be stable on the new operating system, however.

How Accurate Is It?

Compared to DragonDictate, the OS X Dictation program is just as accurate, and even more so because it’s built into the operating system. Below is a screenshot of a few test sentences. The feature will recognize proper nouns and names, but it will have trouble with words that sound the same but have different spellings. I dictated “Micheal Wood,” and it kept typing “would.”

If you speak too fast, the feature misunderstands what you say, as when I dictated “I write for.” However, notice that in terms of accuracy, the Dictation feature will always correctly spell words. It can misinterpret what you say, but it uses the dictionary to correctly spell words based on what it thinks you said. Even “Rhineforte” in the screenshot above is actually a street name.

Dictation Commands

Another limitation with Dictation is that you can’t train it to use the words you want. Unlike with DragonDictate, I can’t for example train it to recognize and type “MakeUseOf.com“, as you can see in the screenshot above. Notice, also, as with the Dictation program in the iPhone 4S, when a blue dotted line appears under one or more words, the program may give a suggestion for what it thought you meant. When you put your cursor at the end of those dots, alternative suggestions will appear, and if one is correct just click on it, and the correction will be made.

You can also use some limited quotation commands with this Dictation feature. The most common command you will use of course is “period,” or “full stop” at the end of your sentences. You can also dictate other punctuation, including “question mark,” ”explanation point,” “open parenthesis,” “close parenthesis,” “quote,” “new paragraph,” and “new line.”

Even when you use these commands correctly, the program still may misinterpret what you meant (as in the example below.)

Also, if you dictate, “I owe her ten dollars and forty-six cents,” the Dictation feature will type “$10.46.” Since Dictation is based on Nuance technology, part of which Siri diction is based, you can use this list of Dragon Dictation commands found in iSource.com. However, Dictation is not as advanced as DragonDictate – at least not yet – so don’t expect it to accurately do all your typing for you.

Learning Dictation

If you’ve never used a speech to text dictation program, doing so can almost feel like learning how to write again, because the difference between typing and dictating is that you have to think about what you say before you say it. So one way to develop diction skills is simply to use the program everyday. You might use Dictation for daily journal writing, or posting tweets. Use it regularly, and carefully re-read and edit what it types out for you.

Let us know what you think about the new Dictation feature in Mountain Lion. Also, if you want to boss your Mac around in other ways, check out this article on other Mac speech commandsHow To Use Speech Commands on Your MacHow To Use Speech Commands on Your MacRead More.

Explore more about: Speech Recognition, Writing Tips.

1. On my 2012 Mac, pressing fn once did not activate Dictation. Under the Edit menu (desktop as well as Apple Pages), the keyboard shortcut indicates fn fn (twice).

2. Thank you for the information, but why is my mouse deactivated on my word document?

3. Does anyone know whether I can use native Mac dictation in Word for Mac?

4. On long documents (books) Siri works and Dragon doesn't. My huge objection to Siri is that it capitalizes words in the middle of sentences and when the word might be a proper name, It capitalizes it. If I write 'hi will come' tt types 'IWill come.' And often if any word is even close to a proper name it types the proper name.
   I have had Dragon for years but seldom use it now.
   I would think that it should be easy to stop the mid-sentence capitalization. It drives me crazy!

5. What is time limit for DD? Only 30 sec for Mountain Lion..

   • There's no time limit on DD. When you pause during dictation, it will immediately type what you say.

6. Question: should I also purchase Dragon?

   I have been using Dragon for many years.. And they finally nailed in version 11.5. I use Dragon for responding to emails to employees -- but not to clients, since Dragon is still prone to errors that could confuse the reader, but which I may not notice before I hit send.

   A new service from called Number Guru lets you perform reverse phone number lookups--using a phone number to identify its source / owner. [Update: Since the time this article was originally written, the pricing and policies of Number Guru have changed. Obtaining useful information with the service is no longer free. BeenVerified.com (the parent organization of Number Guru) has not responded to requests for an explanation of the changes or current pricing policies.] Have you ever received a call from a mystery number and wished you could figure out who was calling? Best free software app reverse phone number lookup for mac.

   Dragon is also great for dumping hand written notes into the Word to be sorted out later.

   I turn off the Command feature to improve accuracy.

   So.. I'm just now (Nov 2012) buying a new Mac Air - moving from a ThinkPad PC. Should I install Dragon on the Air?

7. I really like your mustache.

8. I like your mustache.

9. i can't use dictatiOn.it says it's nOt available in sOuth africa and tO chOOse anOther language, but even when i chOOse US english, it still dOesn't wOrk..

10. Thank you for this information, I am using mountain lion
    dictate my text here. I am not much of a touch typist, so it is a pretty good new feature from me. Although I have found that with my MacBook air is the microphone on the chassis does not seem to be very accurate. So I'm using an external microphone. But it seems now my voice data needs to be retrained in order to get accuracy again. So do voice database seems to become somewhat garbled by using different microphones.
    A great new feature but it certainly takes some patience.

11. Ability to dictate quickly is quite useful for situations where we enter text in short increments - such as when placing markers in a video editing app, or text annotations in PDFs. In these situations, your hands are probably busy with the mouse or trackpad, and using BetterTouchTool to assign a gesture to start dictation makes the process even more enjoyable. Personally, Dragon Dictate works better for my accent and lags less.

12. I'm actually quite impressed by Apple's dictation software, despite not using it frequently. I'm quite certain I'll find reasons to use it in the future.

13. '[..] the OS X Dictation program is just as accurate, and even more so because it’s built into the operating system.'

    Accuracy has nothing to do with where the code resides, it has to do with the voice recognition code, the training method and corpus, etc.

14. Interesting article. I prefer DragonDictation.

You can tell Alexa to turn on your lights or ask Siri to look up what year Die Hard was released (1988), but what else can you do with your voice and a little technology? With the best dictation software, you can compose memos, emails, speeches, and other writing using only your voice. Some dictation apps also give you the power to control your computer or mobile device with spoken words, too, letting you open apps and navigate the web when you aren't able to or don't want to with your fingers. While there are plenty of excellent options, we found eight dictation apps that we consider best in class.

Here's the short list of the best dictation apps, with more information following, such as how we chose them, tips for using dictation software, and detailed descriptions of each app.

• Apple Dictation (iOS, macOS)
• Diction.io (Web)
• Dragon by Nuance (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows)
• Gboard (Android, iOS)
• Google Docs Voice Typing (Web)
• ListNote (Android)
• Speech Recogniser (iOS)
• Windows 10 Speech Recognition (Windows)

Why Use Dictation Software?

Dictation apps have a variety of use cases. They're well known among the accessibility community, as not everyone has full and dexterous use of their fingers and hands for typing, moving a mouse, or tapping a touchscreen. They're also quite popular with productivity enthusiasts because once you get comfortable dictating, it's typically faster than typing. Dictating also enables multitasking. You can write while walking, cooking, or even breastfeeding.

Some people also find that writing by dictating silences their internal editor. You might be more inclined to get all your thoughts out first and review them later, rather than revising ideas as you form them.

Here are more details about the best dictation apps and voice recognition tools, with a few words about what makes them different to help you choose.

What Makes a Great Piece of Dictation Software?

In the last few years, dictation software has become more readily available, easier to use, and much less expensive. Also sometimes called voice-to-text apps or voice recognition apps, these tools turn your spoken words into writing on the screen quickly and accurately. In looking for the best dictation apps, we tested both free and paid options for desktop and mobile devices, paying attention to accuracy, ease of use, and languages supported.

Some are standalone software programs while others are features that come inside other apps or operating systems. Take Google Docs Voice Typing, for example. It's a feature inside Google Docs, rather than a standalone app. You can use it to write in Google Docs as well as edit and format your text.

Missing from this article are Amazon Alexa, Siri by Apple, and Microsoft Cortana. Why? They're not true dictation services. They're better classified as AI assistants. You use them to perform simple tasks rather than dictate at length. They can make a shopping list, but they can't help you write a speech. So, you won't find them on this list.

Tips for Using Voice Recognition Software

Dictation apps are impressive, but they aren't perfect. You do need to change how you speak a little for them to work well. Keep these pointers in mind when dictating text.

1. Speak like a newscaster. With a dictation app, you need to enunciate clearly, but you shouldn't talk like a robot. Speaking like a newscaster is about where you need to be.

2. Punctuate. When you dictate, you have to say each period, comma, question mark, and so forth.

3. Learn a few commands. Take the time to learn a few simple commands, such as 'new line' to enter a line break. There are different commands for composing, editing, and operating your device. Commands may differ from app to app, so learn the ones that apply to the tool you choose.

4. Know your limits. Especially on mobile devices, some tools have a time limit for how long they can listen, usually around 30 to 45 seconds. Glance at the screen from time to time to make sure you haven't blown past the mark.

5. Practice. It takes time to adjust to voice recognition software, but it gets easier the more you practice. Some of the more sophisticated apps invite you to train by reading passages or doing other short drills. Don't shy away from tutorials, help menus, and on-screen cheat sheets.

Advice on Microphones

To use dictation software, you need a microphone. Depending on what you want to accomplish, the built-in microphone on your device could suffice. If you plan to dictate more than a few sentences, switch to an external microphone for better accuracy. Earbuds that have a mic on the cord will do. For more advanced uses, you'll get the best results by investing in a higher quality mic.

The options for microphones used for dictation fall into three broad categories: wired headsets, wireless headsets, and desktop microphones.

Among wired headsets, look for a device that puts the microphone close to your mouth, which minimizes the amount of ambient noise it picks up. The Wirecutter recommends the Jabra Evolve 40 (around $75), with a USB connector. If you prefer a wireless Bluetooth option, you'll likely end up spending a little more. The Plantronics Voyager 5200 (around $100) gets the thumbs up from Wirecutter as well. For desktop microphones, like the kind used in home podcasting, the Yeti by Blue ($100 to $130) is a long-time favorite.

The Best Dictation Software

Apple Dictation (iOS, macOS)

Best free dictation tool for Apple devices

Look no further than your Mac, iPhone, or iPad for one of the best dictations tools. Apple's built-in Dictation feature, powered by Siri (we'd be unsurprised if the two merged one day), ships as part of Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems. On iOS devices, you use it by pressing the microphone icon on the stock keyboard. On desktop, you turn it on by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation and then use a keyboard shortcut to activate it in your app.

Voice Dictation Software For Mac

By default, Apple Dictation requires the internet to work and has a time limit of about 30 seconds for each smattering of speech. To remove those limits, enable Enhanced Dictation, which requires OS X v10.9 or later or iPhone 6s or newer. Enhanced Dictation adds a local file to your device so that you can dictate offline.

You can format and edit your text using simple commands, such as 'new paragraph' or 'select previous word.' Tip: You can view available commands in a small window, like a little cheat sheet, while learning the ropes. Apple also offers advanced commands for creating custom ones.

Price: Included with macOS and iOS devices

Accuracy: On a 200-word test using standard Dictation, three words were inaccurate. On a 250-word test with Enhanced Dictation, two were inaccurate.

Recommendation: I recommend Apple Dictation only when using Enhanced Dictation. The standard version is annoying and inconvenient for anything longer than 40 seconds. For short messages on mobile devices, it works fine. Enhanced Dictation is the way to go for continuous dictating, however.

Languages: Enhanced Dictation supports 20 languages. Apple's default Dictation supports 31 languages: Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.

Dictation.io (Web)

Best dictation software for one-time use

Dictation.io is a free website that lets you turn your speech to text without downloading or installing anything. You need an internet connection to use it because your speech gets processed through Google's servers in real time. In testing, it was reasonably accurate, with a need for cleanup in punctuation and capitalization in particular. There's no time limit, though you may need to reload the page if a pesky ad appears over the controls for switching the microphone between listening and stop mode.

Dictation.io has a list of preferred words for inserting punctuation and special characters, though it didn't always function flawlessly. For example, to insert a period, you can say, 'full stop,' which the app confused with 'stop listening,' the command to turn off the mic.

Everything runs in the browser with Dictation.io, so you'll have to move your text to do anything with it. When you finish dictation, you can copy and paste your work, export to a .txt file, tweet it, email it, or print it from the app. While the developer notes that your voice isn't being recorded or stored anywhere, it's worth mentioning that the site has no terms of service or privacy statement. It's a good tool when you need to dictate once here or there, or if you're looking for a hard-to-find language, as this app supports 67, including many Asian languages.

Price: Free

Accuracy: In a 250-word passage, Dictation.io had 30 inaccuracies, a mix of incorrect words, missed punctuation, and improper capitalization.

Recommendation: Dictation.io is best for one-off dictation projects because it's free and you don't have to download anything or for anyone in need of language support that they can't find elsewhere.

Languages: Dictation.io supports text to speech in 67 languages, not counting dialects separately: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bahasa Indonesian, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Bengali, Cambodian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonia, Farsi, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Hebrew, Japanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Korean, Laotian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Mongolian, Marathi, Malay, Maltese, Nepali, Norwegian, Punjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Sinhalese, Slovakian, Slovenian, Serbian, Spanish, Sudanese, Swedish, Swahili, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Zulu.

Dragon by Nuance (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows)

Best overall dictation software

If you never want to touch your keyboard or mouse again, Dragon by Nuance is the voice dictation software for you. With a variety of software packages and mobile apps for different use cases (Dragon Legal, Dragon Medical, Dragon Professional), Dragon can handle specialized industry vocabulary, and it comes with excellent features, such as the ability to transcribe text from an audio file you upload. Dragon is a leader in speech recognition, and if you're committed to dictation and hands-free computer use, it's worth the investment.

Dragon's desktop software lets you compose text using your voice in just about any app, G Suite included. It also lets you navigate the web and control your computer. Be sure to check the system requirements for the edition you want before buying.

You can also count on Dragon to be highly accurate and fast. The apps contain training modules that coach you on how to use it for dictating, editing, and whatever else you want to do with your voice. All those features don't come cheap, however, with the baseline Dragon Home edition running $150. There's a mobile app for an additional $14.99/month that syncs with a desktop version for added productivity.

Price: $14.99/month for Dragon Anywhere (iOS and Android); from $150 to $500 for desktop packages

Accuracy: Testing on Dragon Professional Individual, all words were correct in a 200-word passage, with one capitalized letter that should have been lowercase. Testing on the mobile app, only one was incorrect out of 250.

Recommendation: Dragon is a hefty investment. If you're committed to working hands-free, however, it's worth it because it's the most accurate dictation tool we've found.

Languages: Dragon desktop products are available in several languages, which vary by version, and include Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Gboard (Android, iOS)

Best free mobile dictation tool without time limits

Gboard, available for both Android and iOS, is a powerful keyboard app that includes a dictation tool. Press and hold the spacebar, and you can dictate at length. Gboard transcribes everything you say in real time and without a time limit, although you need an internet connection to use it.

Be warned that Gboard is fast. It will cut you off if you take too long of a breath or even pause for a moment. Its speed is both its strength and its weakness, as it scored the lowest in accuracy of all our apps likely because it forces the speaker to rush through the text.

Price: Free

Accuracy: In transcribing a 200-word passage, Gboard flubbed about 20 percent of it.

Recommendation: Gboard works fast, but it pushes you to speak fast, too, which may not be your cup of tea. In getting the hang of it, I found myself rushing and not breathing at a natural rhythm. Use Gboard when you need speed, and when you're dictating a few short ideas at a time.

Languages: Not counting different dialects separately, Gboard supports 47 languages: Afrikaans, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, and Zulu.

Google Docs Voice Typing (Web)

Best free dictation app for typing in Google Docs

Google Docs contains a built-in tool for dictation and voice-driven editing. Called Voice Typing, this tool is only available in Docs when running Google Chrome. Turn it on from the Tools menu, and a microphone appears on your document. Click the mic to start and stop dictation mode.

Similar to Dragon, Google Docs Voice Typing gives you plenty of voice commands for formatting, editing, and navigating the page as you write. For example, you can say 'create bulleted list,' 'select word,' or 'go to end of paragraph.' In our testing, Voice Typing held up well with a natural speaking pace. It's a solid option if you work primarily in Google Docs and are looking for free dictation software.

Price: Free

Accuracy: Out of 200 words dictated, only one was incorrect.

Recommendation: Voice Typing is an incredibly helpful tool if you use Google Docs avidly, but it doesn't work anywhere else. That said, it's one of the only free voice dictation apps that gives you a wide range of commands for editing and formatting.

Languages: Not counting different dialects separately, Google Docs Voice Typing supports dictation in 62 languages; voice commands for editing are only available in English: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bahasa Indonesia, Basque, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Farsi, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Khmer, Korean, Laotian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Malaysian, Marathi, Nepali, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, Sinhala, Sundanese, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Zulu.

Do more with Google Docs by learning 40 tips for Google Docs power users.

ListNote Speech-to-Text Notes (Android)

Best Android dictation app for also recording voice memos

ListNote Speech-to-Text Notes is one of the most popular speech recognition apps for Android in the Google Play store, with more than 26,000 downloads.

It combines the classic notepad functionality with voice dictation, using your phone's built-in Google Voice Search to turn voice to text while recording the audio at the same time. The app saves each recording as a searchable note that you can categorize and color code. You can share these notes via email, text, and to any other supported app you have installed, as well as play the recorded audio while reading the transcribed text to check it.

ListNote also offers a handful of unique features, like the 'Time to Breathe' option that lets you choose how long to wait before stopping speech input. It offers password protection as well, plus backup and encryption options.

Price: Free

Accuracy: In using ListNote to transcribe a 200-word passage, the app had six small errors that were easy to correct, but missed a few words in a row in three places.

Recommendation: On Android, ListNote is a speedy text-to-speech app that doesn't have a time limit. It's a good option if you need a free app that you can use quickly and easily, and if you don't mind making a few corrections when finished.

Languages: Supports all languages offered in Google's dictation services (see Gboard entry).

If you're looking for a similar option on Windows and iOS, you can use the Microsoft OneNote mobile app to record your voice, and then switch to the Window app to run an Audio Search to find words in it. The app doesn't transcribe the full text, however.

Speech Recogniser (iOS)

Best dictation app for translating text into another language

Speech Recogniser is a dictation powerhouse. You can use it to not only dictate but also translate text into more than 26 languages. The app also lets you post directly to Facebook or Twitter, copy your transcribed text to other apps, and send text via email.

Once you install and open Speech Recogniser, you choose a source language on the home screen and tap the start button to activate the dictation. When you're done, a new screen appears with your text. You can then translate, share, or even playback your recording.

It's a quick way to jot down transcribed notes and even translate them into another language when you need.

Price: Free

Accuracy: Out of 200 words, Speech Recogniser had four inaccuracies.

Languages: Not counting dialects separately, Speech Recogniser supports 25 languages: Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Cantonese, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Windows 10 Speech Recognition (Windows)

Best free dictation app for Windows

If you use a Windows 10 device, you're probably already familiar with Cortana, the AI voice recognition assistant from Microsoft. Cortana works in tandem with another tool called Windows 10 Speech Recognition, which is used for dictation and operating your device.

Using either a hotkey (Windows logo button + h) or a voice command, you can start dictating continuously in supported apps. In testing, dictation worked without a hitch in Notepad and Word, two apps made by Microsoft, but not at all in Evernote or Google Docs. Make sure the apps you want to use are supported before investing too much time in this tool.

Speech Recognition uses two different on-screen interfaces, depending on how what you're doing. There's one interface for dictation (shown above) and a separate one for voice commands, like opening programs and scrolling pages.

Speech Recognition improves the more you use it. You can optionally allow Windows to scan your typed documents to get a better sense of your linguistic choices.

As mentioned, Cortana is the other piece of the Windows speech recognition puzzle. Saying, 'Hey, Cortana,' wakes up this AI assistant, and you can ask it to search online, open apps, save short notes, and look up directions.

Price: Included with Windows 10; Speech Recognition (without Cortana) included in older versions of Windows

Accuracy: In transcribing 250 words, Windows Speech Recogniser had 12 errors. More than half were related to capitalization, and two were incorrect words.

Recommendation: Windows Speech Recognition and Cortana together offer a compelling dictation package for people who run Windows and use Microsoft apps. If you compose in many apps not made by Microsoft, you may want to look for another option, however.

Languages: Not counting different dialects separately, Windows Speech Recognition supports eight languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian only), and Spanish.

Is Voice Dictation for You?

Once you become experienced with it, a dictation tool can speed up your writing, potentially making you more productive. It lets you multitask, and some people find it helps them generate ideas rather than get stuck on revising and editing. Dictation software can be a necessary tool for people with accessibility issues or who are trying to prevent repetitive stress syndrome from typing, too.

Dictation is not always right for every task, however. It's ideal for writing speeches and spoken remarks. It turns list-making into an afterthought. But depending on what kind of writer you are and what you're producing, typing with your fingers may be your preferred route.

If you find yourself diving headfirst into dictation and using some features to edit or control your computer using your voice, you may want to invest in top-of-the-line software, such as Dragon by Nuance. Or, you may want to spend a half hour every day practicing and learning to use the tools that come with your operating system. If you're still dabbling, try a free dictation tool that's easily accessible, such as the one that came pre-installed on your smartphone.

As you become more comfortable with voice recognition technology, you can use it for anything you like on whatever device you have at hand. You just might get hooked.

Originally published April 14, 2016 by Emily Esposito; updated in 2017 and 2018.

Microphone photo by Antoine Beauvillain via tookapic.