Why does dictation slow down as time goes by?

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Level 1

14 points

Why does dictation slow down as time goes by?

Purchased and started using a 2021 iMac (M1, 16 GB of RAM) this past June. As a quadriplegic, I rely pretty heavily on speech recognition in the accessibility settings. When I first boot up the iMac, dictation is fairly quick. However, after a couple of hours, dictation slows down significantly to the point were there is a long delay between speaking and text appearing or commands executing. The only thing I can do to speed it up again is to restart the computer. Closing all open programs doesn't make a difference. The amount of RAM used doesn't get near 16 GB according to the activity monitor. Is there anything I can do so that I don't have to reboot the computer to get the speed of dictation back to where it is when I first turn on the computer?

iMac 24″, macOS 12.4

Posted on Nov 5, 2022 1:54 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 10, 2022 2:12 PM in response to Fragile7

Hello Fragile7,

You were on the right track using Activity Monitor to try and track down what is causing the slow down.

While watching Activity Monitor, are you seeing any app start to use more RAM? This might help indicate what is causing the slowdown.

We would suggest starting up the system in what is called safe mode. Safe mode only loads what is needed to run the computer. This can help isolate what is causing issues.

To start in safe mode, follow these steps:

1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.

2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac.

3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window.

More information is available here: How to use safe mode on your Mac

The computer will take longer to start in safe mode, and the screen may have some distorted video as it starts up. This is normal. Once you are logged in, use the system and test to see if the issue continues.

If everything seems to work as expected, go ahead and restart the computer normally and test again. There are steps outlined on what to do if the issue does or does not continue in safe mode.

Starting in safe mode also forces the computer to run some disk checks similar to First Aid. This can actually resolve some issues.

Have a good day.

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Answer 2

Lager1

Community Specialist

Nov 16, 2022 3:24 PM in response to Fragile7

Fragile7,

We appreciate those details.

Were you able to try starting in safe mode to see if you experienced the speed decrease?

If so, create a new user account (administrator) to see if the behavior happens there. This will let us know if it is system-wide or something within your user account: Change Users & Groups settings on Mac

Delete a user or group on Mac (to remove the test account once completed)

Let us know what you find.

Take care.

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Answer 3

Chris_C1

Community Specialist

Nov 19, 2022 3:45 PM in response to Fragile7

Hey there Fragile7,

What version of macOS is currently installed on your Mac? If there are any available updates, you'll watn to install them to help ensure your macOS background apps function as they should.

Update macOS on Mac

If you continue to have issues after updating your software, you may want to Contact Apple Support for assistance.

Have a good one!

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Answer 4

Fragile7 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 16, 2022 3:10 PM in response to srbwanderer

After using dictation and voice control throughout the day, the physical memory used only increased from about 5 GB to 7.64 gb (16 GBs available). As far as applications, WindowsServer memory usage increased from 376 MB to 399.2 MB. Something called “com.apple.SpeechRecognitionCore.speechrecognitiond” increased from 168.3 MB to 277.4 MB. Control Center increased from 42 to 50.5 MB. AssistiveControl increased from 42 to 55.6 MB.

I assume all of these background apps are essential, but is the increase in the memory they are using causing my computer to slow down, even though it still has 8.36 MB of unused RAM available? Why are these background applications still using more memory after I've closed all of the open programs?

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Answer 5

Fragile7 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 19, 2022 3:56 PM in response to Chris_C1

Running Ventura, it was the same with monterey, gets slower and slower as the day goes by. It's weird because everything else seems to work just fine at a normal pace. The only thing slowing down is dictation speed.

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Answer 6

Fragile7 Author

Level 1

14 points

Nov 19, 2022 3:27 PM in response to Lager1

Used the iMac in safe mode all day today, it still got very slow as the day went on. Dictation became slower and slower. Memory used, 6.04 out of 16 GB. Here's a screenshot from activity monitor:

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Why does dictation slow down as time goes by?

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