Terrible dictation ability with newest IOS

What happened to the iPhone? (should not be a question mark there) Dictation ability since the newest iOS download? This is so frustrating. It puts periods and commas all over the place where they do not belong. It throws in capital letters randomly and misses. (Why would it put a period after misses and then a capital P?) Putting a capital letter. (Again, why is there a period here and then a capital A?) At the beginning of a sentence. (Now when the period is actually correct at the end of the sentence, it did not capitalize the I at the beginning of the next sentence.) it often adds the word "and" with a capital A. It has been so frustrating to have to fix so many things before pressing send.

oh my goodness! (Again, no capital in Oh.) Try reading this again. I'm going to send it without correct in anything. (Another error. Should say correcting, not correct in). I deliberately dictated very slowly and clearly so that there would not be any mistakes and it's still full of crazy stuff. iPhone dictation needs to get better.

iPhone 13 Pro, iOS 16

Posted on Dec 9, 2022 7:06 PM

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Question marked as Apple recommended
  1. Note: You can turn off automatic punctuation by going to Settings  > General > Keyboard, then turning off Auto-Punctuation.
  2. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Hardware Keyboard, then do any of the following: Turn Auto-Capitalization on or off: When this option is selected, an app supporting this feature capitalizes proper nouns and the first words in sentences as you type.



Also please check these Settings on your iPhone, Enable what you want. See the pic below




Are you using any third-party microphone while dictating then I would recommend you avoid it


Posted on Dec 9, 2022 11:08 PM

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108 replies

Oct 17, 2023 8:57 PM in response to Dec2022

I’m having a problem where if I try to fix anything that the dictation fukked up, I will move the cursor and it will automatically move it back to the end of the sentence, no matter how many times I move it back, so I literally have to erase everything and start over every single time as well. It makes me so angry I actually want to snap my phone in half sometimes. Also, what happened to freedom of speech? Why can’t I curse? Are we not adults anymore?

Oct 18, 2023 6:38 AM in response to azaksorer291


I will move the cursor and it will automatically move it back to the end of the sentence, no matter how many times I move it back, so I literally have to erase everything and start over every single time as well.

That sounds like an issue unrelated to dictation. I suggest you start your own post.

Also, what happened to freedom of speech? Why can’t I curse? Are we not adults anymore?

Freedom of speech, in the U.S., at least, means that the government will not restrict your speech. And they are not. You are on an Apple site and you agree to abide by Apple's rules when you registered. One of those rules is that you remain civil. Real adults recognize that there are places it's acceptable to curse and other places where it is not. So, my answer to your second question "No, you are not".

Oct 26, 2023 3:12 PM in response to Dec2022

The problem isn’t learning how to turn off Apple’s automatic punctuation. The problem is getting Apple to fix automatic punctuation so that it works.


Why has it gotten so much worse - along with voice, recognition - in the last 12 to 24 months? It’s really getting to be a problem.


NOW… Do you notice the incorrect comma that Apple inserted between the words “voice” and “recognition” above? Why, oh why, is Apple doing this? …It’s crazy.

Oct 27, 2023 6:16 AM in response to JB8000

JB8000 wrote:

The problem isn’t learning how to turn off Apple’s automatic punctuation. The problem is getting Apple to fix automatic punctuation so that it works.

Why has it gotten so much worse - along with voice, recognition - in the last 12 to 24 months? It’s really getting to be a problem.

NOW… Do you notice the incorrect comma that Apple inserted between the words “voice” and “recognition” above? Why, oh why, is Apple doing this? …It’s crazy.

Tell Apple about the specific issues you're seeing:


Product Feedback - Apple


Oct 28, 2023 2:12 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

Apple dictation is, awful. If you pause, even for a moment, it will put a comma there, or even a. And a capital letter for the next word. I have written this comment using dictation and what you see is how it has decided to punctuate it.


by the way, you can put the cursor roughly where you want it, then press and hold the spacebar without letting go and you can then move the cursor to where you want it, so you can correct Apples awful dictation. Otherwise it just seems to jump all over the place and you can't select the word you want or put the cursor where you want it to.

Oct 28, 2023 10:02 AM in response to Spiderxx

Spiderxx wrote:

Apple dictation is, awful. If you pause, even for a moment, it will put a comma there, or even a. And a capital letter for the next word. I have written this comment using dictation and what you see is how it has decided to punctuate it.

by the way, you can put the cursor roughly where you want it, then press and hold the spacebar without letting go and you can then move the cursor to where you want it, so you can correct Apples awful dictation. Otherwise it just seems to jump all over the place and you can't select the word you want or put the cursor where you want it to.

Tell Apple:


Product Feedback - Apple

Nov 17, 2023 7:19 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

I don't know who you are but you must be the luckiest person ever to have a phone that works flawlessly! What model iPhone do you have and what version firmware if you don't mind saying. I have spent hours of my valuable time trying everything suggested to make my iPhone 14 Pro overcome its problems. I told someone the other day that my phone has an IQ of around 27. It will simply not capatilize words properly from dictation. Even typing, it will sometimes change words and capitalization. Yesterday I was creating a message and someone came in. I forgot I had an open mic and was relating a message I had received about Thanksgiving. When I looked at the screen, it had inserted with caps ...Erdogan Wilson Brenda...and other such garbage. HOW? Never used Erdogan in a message in my life. One of a thousand examples. If I had dictated this message on iphone 14, it would have taken at least 5 minutes to try to correct the mistakes. And I won't even open discussions on the phone turning on the screen or the flashlight and burning my leg, or going to some app or website I've never been and playing music. I rue the day I went into T-Mobile and traded up to get this frustrating - I don't know what to call it. Sorry for venting.

Nov 17, 2023 7:28 AM in response to 99Jax99

99Jax99 wrote:

I don't know who you are but you must be the luckiest person ever to have a phone that works flawlessly! What model iPhone do you have and what version firmware if you don't mind saying.

At the time I wrote the post to which you are replying, I was using an iPhone 11 Pro with whatever version of iOS 16 was current in August. Now, I have an iPhone 15 Pro with iOS 17.1.1. And please note, I did not say that my phone worked flawlessly. I said "dictation works almost flawlessly."

And I won't even open discussions on the phone turning on the screen or the flashlight and burning my leg,

Turn off Settings>Accessibility>Touch>Tap or Swipe to Wake and make sure the screen is facing away from your body when the phone is in your pocket.

Nov 17, 2023 7:47 AM in response to 99Jax99

99Jax99 wrote:

Thanks for that tip. Had not found that before. I started to add "almost". But, my main peev(sp) is still dictation which I need because my fingers don't work well on the phone keyboard. Just updated to latest 17.x firmware and hope things improve.

I wish I had more tips to give you for dictation. My observation is that, for reasons I have not yet determined, some people have few problems and some people have a lot. Either there aren't very many people in the middle or they don't post much. People who have trouble report that their diction is good but, of course, I can't hear their voices. I believe mine is good but you can't hear me. My larger point is that I remain unconvinced that the system is flawed. I think there is something else going on. And, please, don't think I'm judging or blaming anyone. I just think that some people are doing something different than other people but I don't know what it is.


I know background noise can make a huge difference. Driving in a car with the windows down makes dictation very challenging for me. However, most of the time, background noise is not an issue for me.

Nov 17, 2023 8:12 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

I appreciate that you spend a good bit of time trying to help iPhone users. Part of my thinking is that one would believe that of all the tech companies, Apple would be the tops in the area of dictation. Everyone touts AI and it would seem reasonable that Apple would be able to use that to help individualize each person's voice - partly by comprehending the corrections made in a message, for example. Voice to text has been around commercially for at least 30 years and it would seem that it should have been perfected by now compared to all the other technology advances in the same period. This is just me expressing my thoughts on the subject and no reflection on you or any others on this site who are struggling with these frustrations. Again, thanks for your helpful posts.

Terrible dictation ability with newest IOS

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