On Android, voice typing usually starts from the microphone on your on-screen keyboard: tap a text field, open the keyboard, tap its microphone, and speak. The words it recognizes appear in the active field for you to review and edit. What happens to the audio depends on the keyboard feature: Google says standard Gboard talk-to-text sends voice to Google for transcription, while Pixel Advanced voice typing keeps ordinary dictation text on-device except when you use specified editing features.
How to dictate with Gboard
- Open a text field. Start a message, note, search, or other text entry so Gboard appears.
- Tap the microphone. It is usually at the top of the keyboard. Wait for the “Speak now” prompt.
- Speak the words you want entered. Gboard transcribes them into the active field. You can continue editing with the keyboard.
Google’s general Gboard setup describes this workflow for Android and does not require a Pixel. Google also says standard Gboard talk-to-text sends your voice to Google for transcription; that statement is about Gboard’s standard feature, not every Android keyboard.
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Add punctuation and line breaks
For supported languages, say punctuation aloud as part of the dictation. Google documents commands including “Period,” “Comma,” “Exclamation point,” “Question mark,” “New line,” and “New paragraph.” Availability varies by language, so a command that works in one language may not work in another.
Fix recognition mistakes
Tap or select a misheard word and dictate it again, type a correction, or choose a keyboard suggestion. Dictation is an input method, not a commitment to keep the first transcription.
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If the microphone is missing or does not start
- Check Gboard’s voice-typing setting. Open Gboard settings and make sure Voice typing is enabled.
- Check microphone permission. In Android app permissions, allow Gboard to use the microphone, such as “While using the app” if that option is offered on your version.
- Check the active keyboard and language. Confirm Gboard is the keyboard open in the text field and that its selected language supports the dictation feature you are trying to use.
These checks address common setup causes before you assume the phone’s microphone hardware is faulty. The exact Android settings labels can vary by device and software version.
Standard Gboard dictation and Pixel Advanced voice typing are different
Standard Gboard talk-to-text is the broadly documented keyboard workflow. Pixel Advanced voice typing is an additional Gboard experience with on-device dictation and extra commands; its requirements and data handling are not interchangeable with standard Gboard dictation.
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| Feature | Standard Gboard talk-to-text | Pixel Advanced voice typing |
|---|---|---|
| Supported devices | Google’s general setup page documents Gboard on Android; it does not require a Pixel. | Google lists Pixel 6 and later, including Fold and Tablet, for Advanced voice typing features. |
| Processing described by Google | Google says voice is sent to Google for transcription. | Google says dictated text stays on-device except when using “Fix it” or detailed edits. |
| Documented capabilities | Spoken punctuation and line-break commands are available in supported languages. | Automatic punctuation, emoji insertion, and voice commands including “Delete last word,” “Clear,” “Clear all,” “Send,” “Next,” and “Stop.” |
| Feature-specific limits | Talk-to-text does not work with every language. | “Fix it” is listed for Pixel 8 or later, English (US), and network connectivity. Detailed edits are documented for Pixel 8 and later and English (US). |
Google’s support documentation does not establish a universal offline guarantee for standard dictation on every Android device, language, or version. For Advanced voice typing, ordinary dictation is described as on-device; the documented “Fix it” feature needs network connectivity.
What Advanced voice typing can change by voice
On supported Pixels, Advanced voice typing can automatically add punctuation, insert emoji, and act on commands such as “Delete last word,” “Clear,” “Clear all,” “Send,” “Next,” and “Stop.” More involved correction features have narrower requirements: Google’s documentation limits “Fix it” to Pixel 8 or later, English (US), and a network connection, and documents detailed edits for Pixel 8 or later in English (US).
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Google’s currently documented Advanced voice typing languages include English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. Its troubleshooting guidance says the primary Gboard and device languages must match and describes automatic language detection for supported locales. Support can depend on device, locale, language, system components, and updates; check the current settings and help for your phone rather than assuming every command works everywhere.
Language setup does not guarantee dictation support
To add a language, open Gboard settings, add the desired keyboard language, then switch with the language key or space bar. This changes Gboard’s input language, not the Android device language. A language being available for typing does not necessarily mean it has the same dictation, punctuation, or Advanced voice typing command support.
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What Google says about voice data and personalization
Privacy depends on which feature you use. Google’s statements describe its own products and are not an independent audit.
Standard Gboard transcription
Google’s Gboard troubleshooting guidance says, “If you use Gboard’s talk-to-text feature, your voice is sent to Google for transcription.” This describes standard talk-to-text. It should not be conflated with Pixel Advanced voice typing’s on-device dictation path.
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Pixel Advanced voice typing and server-assisted editing
Google says, “The text you speak stays on your device and isn’t sent to Google servers except when you use the ‘Fix it’ or detailed edits features,” in its Advanced voice typing help. For detailed edits, Google says the voice-command transcript and the full text in the input field are sent to servers for processing; it says no audio is sent and no text or audio is stored on Google’s servers. That server-assisted editing path therefore involves different information from ordinary Advanced voice typing.
Learning, on-device history, and optional audio donation
Google describes federated learning as sending learnings rather than the text spoken or typed. Its Gboard learning explanation says this occurs while the phone is charging, connected to Wi-Fi, and not in use, and that federated learning is on by default but can be disabled. Google’s wording is: “Federated learning doesn’t send the text you speak or type to Google, but will send what it learns to Google, where it will be combined with learnings from other users to create better speech and typing models.”
Google also says Gboard may save audio recordings and transcripts on the device for personalization; those can be removed through the keyboard’s privacy settings. Audio donation is a separate, voluntary choice: if enabled, snippets are sent to and stored by Google to improve speech recognition. Google’s help page says ordinary donated speech snippets can be up to 15 seconds, or up to 25 seconds when silence or unrecognized audio is included, and are not kept beyond 18 months. Google says some snippets may be reviewed by people. You can turn audio donations off in Gboard’s Privacy settings.
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- For basic keyboard dictation on Android: use Gboard’s microphone, provided its language support and data handling suit you.
- For Pixel-specific voice commands and on-device dictation: check whether your Pixel supports Advanced voice typing and whether the particular feature you want has additional device, language, or network requirements.
- If processing location is the deciding factor: distinguish ordinary Advanced voice typing from “Fix it” or detailed edits, and review the relevant Google help pages and Gboard privacy controls.
Google’s documentation does not provide an independent accuracy benchmark or broad comparison of speed between these options, so there is no supported basis here to call one universally more accurate or faster.
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