iPhone Tips for Seniors: How to Use Dictation

Why type when you can talk? In this short video I show 5 iPhone apps that let you use dictation to capture text rather than using the iPhone's tiny keyboard. Simple and effective!

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Here are chapter markers in case you'd like to jump around the video:
Intro: 0:00
Text Message Dictation: 1:20
Email Dictation: 2:34
xCool 4-in-1 fast charging cable: 3:13
Calendar Dictation: 5:27
Apple Note DictationL 6:25
New Reminder Dictation: 7:40

[swimfit]

I love the dictation feature. In fact, I’m doing it right now and I’m on my iPad which is a lot easier to type on and I liked the commercial about the cable and we have to go looking for that. Thanks again Steve.

[barbaraorr]

I use dictation quite often when texting. A word of caution... make sure to PROOF READ! Sometimes what you say and what gets typed are not even close. Thanks for the tips on using the dictation feature for calendar and notes. Good video!

[ralphmarrone]

Hi Rich,
As a fellow senior. I find your videos very helpful. I’m using dictation now to enter this response. Thanks so much this is great!

[mebythesea]

This is great! Thanks so much for this and for taking it slow. It’s easy to keep up with what you are saying and demonstrating. Best senior site ever! 😊

[pattismithurs]

Thanks very much. I'm another senior who hates teensy weensy keyboards. I have been using Siri (British male!) to do my messages, and so far I've been very impressed...he spelled correctly and even capitalized "Makita" for me the other day.. but will definitely use this for emails!

[Teresa-K]

Hi Rich!
Dictation makes adding messages/notes/ reminders in an efficient manner. I’ll have to use it a lot more. Thanks for the video to remind me to use the microphone for dictation. Kindness, Teresa

[ben.knapp]

Hey Rich. I noticed that sometimes you struggle to open the Notification Center/lock screen while your phone is unlocked. You seem to be swiping down from the bottom middle, which means the Dynamic Island interrupts your swipe. Try swiping down from the top left rather than the top middle, and see if that works better for you 😁

[Jimwilloz]

Thanks. At 80, I am finally feeling benefits of owning an Ipad and Iphone due to your videos. Thanks for being so patient with us more mature types. Attempting to inventory my entire house using the Ipad. Slow going. Have you had experience with home inventory apps? If so, maybe your next project could focus on apps to inventory homes for us over the folks needing to pass down our STUFF. Appreciate you. JW

[brianbrino]

Excellent videos by you Rich and so useful to all of us!

[hanserikkratholmrasmussen]

Thank you for the informative vids. I will start using dictations more. It's really just a matter of laying aside your "fears" and start doing it. 😊

[avimango]

Perhaps for the first time I could perform on my phone while listening what you said ❤

[chaldonviewJM]

Thanks. Will try that. Have a great weekend👍

[leosigman]

Yes, dictation is good and getting better. But when it gets creative, it is very difficult to figure out what I had originally said and correct it to that. I do need to practice dictation more, because my iPad does not work as well with an external keyboard as it does with the on screen keyboard. I have read a number of comments about that which are independent of which external keyboard is being used. when I say it doesn’t work as well, I mean that everything is slower and screen displays are sometimes a little weird.

I think I have learned from your video that I cannot use natural speech in dictation. I have to speak more slowly, and one word at a time, not in a normal speech pattern, even though I have been complimented on my enunciation. I guess this may still be better than typing. We shall see. Thank you very much for this very useful video.

[dalecaldwell]

Just so you know on my iPad to get a link to copy, I have to go to the share icon first. Also, on the ipad the microphone symbol is on the popup keyboard. Love your videos; recommend them to all my senior friends. Warmest Regards

[mikldude]

Thanks for the tips mate, i have big clumsy hands, and i hate typing.

[carolj]

I found your video on YT. Thank God. I lost my microphone on the bottom right hand side on my iPhone. Can you please help me to get it back so I can talk text for dictation. Thank you.

[skipferguson]

Thanks for another useful and easy follow video. I only wish iPhone would provide a way to dictate the time and date when setting a calendar appointment. BTW I ordered an X-cool cable- a great idea.

[evelinmuller]

Hi Rick. It seems that I somehow did something to my screen and I am unable to do anything with it. I would really appreciate any help. I seem to have large Apps on my home screen and cannot go into settings to change it. Any help would be appreciated. Unfortunately i am unable to attach a photo.

[russellpeters]

Do you know how to turn off the annoying beeping?

[HistoryNut-]

It is built into the iPad also but is more useful on the phone. Also, bear in mind that if you use third-party keyboards and have the extensions plugged in, they will change the way Voice Dictation works. I use Grammarly, and I have to deal with this. The built-in IOS/iPadOS voice dictation is processed right on your device, but 3rd party keyboards that also use dictation will override the native protocol and run dictation through the internet to a cloud processor. This makes dication using 3rd party keyboards spotty and even sketchy if you are using something that is not reputable like Grammerly, for example. I often find it necessary to switch my keyboard using the Gl;obe icon over to the native iOS Keyboard to use dictation, then switch back to Grammerly to check my text for errors.