With the rise of AI assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Gemini, we’re all now well used to talking to our gadgets. But what you might not realize is that you can actually talk to type anywhere that a text-input box pops up.
This can come in handy in a variety of situations—perhaps you’ve got your hands full of groceries, or you’re holding onto a subway rail. Maybe your phone is out of reach, or the screen’s cracked and keyboard doesn’t work as well as it should. Or maybe being hunched over a tiny screen to compose a message is just not your idea of fun. That is where voice typing can help.
It’s not an either-or situation either: you can switch between typing and talking as you need. Here’s how to do it on Android and iOS, any time the keyboard pops up—whether it’s your email app or a web form.
Android
On Pixel phones and many other Android handsets, the default keyboard is Gboard. When it pops up on screen, tap the mic icon (far right) to enable voice typing, and you can start talking. For more screen real estate, tap the downward arrow to the left of the mic icon.
What you say next is going to depend on which app you’re in and what you’re doing. You can use “delete” to erase the last word and “clear all” to wipe the input box fully. The “next” and “previous” commands will move you between text fields, while emojis can be spoken out as well (like “thumbs up emoji”).
When your text looks good, you’ll be prompted what to say next: Keep an eye on the suggestions under the input box. If you’re in a messaging app then you’ll typically be prompted to say “send,” whereas if you’re looking through a batch of photos for something you might have to say “search.”