How To Make Siri Dictate Notes

Y'all're probably familiar with using Siri to make calls on your iPhone, as well as to open apps on your iOS device, get data, and fix appointments. Only you may exist less familiar with iOS'due south other dictation feature, the one that lets you talk to your iOS device while information technology converts your words into text.

I've long used dictation on my iPhone, because I take fat thumbs and find the keyboard too ho-hum to use. Equally long equally I'1000 in a not-besides-noisy environs, it works quite well. I have to make corrections at times, but I can dictate long emails, curt text messages, and even use dictation to enter search terms in Safari or to enter text in text fields on webpages. Amend still, in my early tests, dictation in iOS vii seems much more than accurate. Here's how you can use dictation on an iOS device and salve a lot of time typing.

Plough on dictation

Outset, y'all need to make sure dictation is turned on. To practise this, go to Settings > General > Siri, and and then turn Siri on. Even if y'all don't want to employ Siri's personal assistant features, you need to turn it on for spoken communication recognition to piece of work. You lot can cull which language you're using hither, which is especially useful if you speak with an accent. I live in the United Kingdom, but since I'm American, I set the language in Siri'due south preferences to English (U.s.a.). However, I gear up my Region settings to reverberate UK dates and times. (Tap General and and then International).

Dictate anywhere…most

You can dictate anywhere in iOS where you can enter text. For example, you can compose emails, dictate texts, and even dictate search terms in Safari'southward search field. Whatsoever time you run across the small microphone icon next to the spacebar on the iOS keyboard, dictation is available. Just tap anyplace you tin can type text, and then tap the microphone icon to start dictating. When yous're finished, tap Doneand and then wait for your words to exist candy. It can have a few seconds for text to appear.

Whenever you lot see the microphone icon (circled), you have the opportunity to dictate.

Stay in the zone: If you're using iOS 7, when yous brainstorm talking, yous'll run into a feedback pane with a wavering line showing the volume of your spoken language. The louder you speaker, the greater the amplitude of the wave. (If you're using iOS 6, or yous're using an app that hasn't been updated for iOS 7, yous'll see a microphone; equally you speak, the microphone will fill up with purple light.)

When you lot brainstorm talking, you lot'll run across a feedback pane with a wavering line showing the volume of your voice communication. The louder you speaker, the wider the wave.

Talk into the microphone: Yous don't need to speak very loudly; but you should keep your iPhone close to your mouth, especially if you lot're outdoors. At that place are two microphones at the bottom of the iPhone, and a single microphone on iPads, located at the elevation of the device. It's not easy to speak directly into the iPad mic while looking at the screen. Speak into the tiny pigsty at the top of your tablet.

You'll find dictation in noisy environments works much ameliorate with an iPhone, because it'southward easier to speak shut to the microphone. The iPhone also has a noise-canceling mic, which filters out background noises. You might discover that the Apple tree earbuds that come with an iPhone—which accept an inline mic—offer better speech communication recognition, as do third-party headphones with mics, as long every bit y'all hold them adequately close to your oral cavity.

Dictate when connected to Wi-Fi: Dictation to an iOS device requires that your voice be sent to a server, where it is recognized and transcribed, and so sent back to your iOS device. For this reason, dictating to an iOS device works best when you're using Wi-Fi; information technology besides works well with a 3G connection; but anything slower is hit or miss, in my experience.

Dictate efficiently

If you lot're familiar with dictating into software such as Dash Software'southward $160 Dragon Dictate, you already have an thought of how to dictate into an iPhone or iPad. But some desktop techniques don't work. Here are a few tips to make dictation more efficient.

Speak clearly: You don't need to speak specially slowly, simply speaking too quickly will lead to errors. The full general idea is to talk like a newscaster: Enunciate, but don't exaggerate.

Don't say too much: Your voice has to be sent to a remote server, then keep your dictation segments under 30 seconds. (Longer than that might exist besides much for a 3G connexion.)

Take reward of autocorrect: While you can't correct mistakes in iOS dictation by voice, you will occasionally run across words that iOS thinks might be incorrect. They appear with dotted blue lines underneath them. Tap an underlined word or phrase, and you'll see one or more options you can cull from.

Make a fault? If you tap a give-and-take underlined in blue, iOS will offer suggestions.

Speak punctuation and symbols: To include punctuation in your dictation, you need to say "comma," "catamenia," "hyphen," and and then on. Watch out for linguistic communication differences. For instance, if yous're using British English, you need to say "total terminate" instead of "period."

You lot can say "new line" to dictate a return character, and "new paragraph" to add two returns. Y'all say "apostrophe" for a possessive noun, such equally "Jerry Garcia apostrophe S guitar," for Jerry Garcia's guitar.

You'll also say things like "dollar sign," "euro sign," and "pound sterling sign" to go type the corresponding symbols.

When you want to capitalize a word, say "cap." If yous're sending a message to someone about a movie preference, for instance, yous might say "I'd like to spotter cap lord of the cap rings."

Employ acronyms with care: You can dictate some acronyms, but not all. Y'all'll find over time which ones work and which don't. When spelling acronyms, make sure to pause between letters just plenty for them to be discrete.

If you need to include an acronym in your dictation, give it a try. Oftentimes iOS volition understand what you're saying as long as you pause slightly betwixt letters.

Add emoticons: Exercise you lot want to type smileys? It's easier to dictate them than to switch to the number keyboard. Only say "smiley," "winky," or "frowny," for 🙂 , 😉 , or 🙁 .

Proofread what you dictate: While some errors will be obvious, and other misinterpretations may have blueish dotted lines highlighting them, there will exist typos—or, more correctly, speech-os.

As you go used to dictating into your iPhone or iPad, you'll figure out the right cadence and book to get the nearly precise recognition. If you need to type a lot on an iOS device, endeavour using dictation. Whether you use information technology for text messages or emails, it may salvage you lot a lot of time.

Source: https://www.macworld.com/article/221813/beyond-siri-dictation-tricks-for-the-iphone-and-ipad.html

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