Increase Pages Dictation Timeout in Mojave?

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Level 1

11 points

Increase Pages Dictation Timeout in Mojave?

This has been a common problem among users, and the common solution is to select "Enhanced Dictation" in the Keyboard > Dictation preference pain. But now, of course, that no longer exists in Mojave, and there aren't any resolutions I can find in a Google search.

So, is that "Enhanced Dictation" somewhere else, or, what is the solution for increasing the time-out in Pages? Or how do I work offline so that it doesn't have to upload as I'm speaking?

Thanks.

iMac 27″, macOS 10.12

Posted on Jan 26, 2022 5:43 PM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

127,516 points

Jan 27, 2022 5:17 AM in response to Cayce

There are no user-adjustable timeout settings for dictation. Not in Pages, or anywhere else.

If you pause long enough, it will attempt to start a new sentence when that was not your intention. You need to speak continuously or tell it full stop to end a sentence, so you don't leave it hanging…

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Answer 2

Cayce Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 27, 2022 7:46 AM in response to VikingOSX

This isn't about pausing, etc. This is about dictating continuously, with no pauses, only to discover dictation has entirely quit at a random point, and you have to do it all over again from there. If it was creative dictation, you'd better have a precise memory of what was spoken in your dictation stream, or you're screwed.

In researching the problem I found a huge number of complaints, nearly all attributing the problem to the system choking on upload (which I don't need it doing anyway), and the most commonly effective remedy was to turn on "Enhanced Dictation," shown in the attached image, which is no longer there. So we've been deprived of that feature in Mojave, and there's no other remedy for dictation just randomly dropping out, requiring that we have our eyes constantly glued to the screen to avoid having to backtrack and repeat volumes of dictation that were missed? That contrary to the computer age intention of making life easier, Apple has decided to take the dictation feature closer to being something totally worthless?

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

127,516 points

Jan 27, 2022 8:46 AM in response to Cayce

As you have Enhanced Dictation selected, it will be at the mercy of processing demand on your Mac. When I use it on Mojave, and admittedly, that is no longer very often, I ensure that only the Pages application is running, and nothing else.

I do not install any anti-virus or even Malwarebytes which would place additional demand on the CPU and introduce collateral distraction for dictation. The demand that Time Machine and its inherent Spotlight indexing introduce may also interfere with a dictation session. The distance from the iMac microphone or any ambient sounds can also perplex dictation.

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