Did watchOS 26 remove 'Speech to Text' function on Apple Watch Series 10?

So WatchOS 26.2 did not fix this. Before updating to 26.2, I contacted Apple Support and they acknowledged that this is a known issue and that I should expect a fix in a future software update.

They did give me a workaround that has given me back the ability use dictation, but it is a bit clunky. You need to set your region in the AppleWatch app on your iPhone as the United States even if you do not live there. Then make sure that the top language is "English (US)". For this to work, the top setting on the region page needs to be "Custom", not "Mirror My iPhone." After doing this, I could get dictation to work in apps like Messages, but only if I manually choose "English (US)" from the swipe-up menu on the keyboard. After doing that, the mic icon shows up as an option. If I go into another app or close the app, then I have to repeat this process. It works, but you have to go through these unnecessary steps.

I do not live in the US, and I do not know if setting the watch region to US will cause other problems. So far, no issues have arisen from that.

I hope an OS fix is coming soon.

Thanks to your post I FINALLY figured it out through lots of trial and error!

It seems the only thing you need to do is make sure your phone's first keyboard is set to English (US) (mine was set to English (Japan))

You can leave Apple watch Language & Region as "Mirror my iPhone"

Also leave your iphone set to Region Japan and iphone language as English (US) and it works.

What is the first keyboard listed on your iPhone?

For me, by changing the first keyboard to English(US) it instantly brought back the mic on my Apple Watch

Previously the first keyboard was English (Japan) which used to work fine but after the iOS and WatchOS updates it broke, so it's definitely a bug but for me at least a simple solution to just add the English (US) keyboard first and all is well again.

Just figured it out. Have to set the language to English US

This has to be a bug because I live in the US and it seems to be an issue with the microphone. I cants speak to Siri, speech to

text use voice memos. Nothing that has to do with the microphone. Call Apple Support all they had me do was factory reset my watch which worked for a very short period of time, but it seems to have gotten worse. I’m trying to hold out for watchOS 26.3 but I’m growing increasingly frustrated. Raise to speak and Hey Siri are my most used features due to the fact that I work with my hands full often.

If you see this screen on your watch when trying to use the microphone:

Tap on the scribble icon in the right corner to get back to the icons for all input options:

After that tap on the microphone icon to bring up the dictation option.

And the watch should remember your input method for the next time.

Even though the workaround described above worked after the update to 26.2, about a week or so after the update, the dictation option for English disappeared suddenly. I tried switching back and forth between languages, etc and nothing worked. I happened to visit an Apple Store in Tokyo over the holidays and tried the dictation on the AppleWatch 11s and Ultra 3s on display. They all had the same issue. This makes me wonder if this feature is actually being removed by Apple. Or if it is this widespread of an issue, why hasn't it been addressed yet. Dictation still works great in Japanese though.

Thank you for figuring it out, 410djtj !

Apple support confirms dictation is not available in all languages on Apple Watch

Article for iOS 26: Enter text on Apple Watch - Apple Support

Eg: says:

When the input method is set to dictation (not available in all languages), you can do the following:

• Speak punctuation: For example, say something like “Did it arrive question mark.”
• Speak emoji: For example, say something like “Thumbs up emoji.”
• Edit: To move the cursor, turn the Digital Crown.
• Select a word: Tap the word. To replace the word, say a different word.
• Select all: Double-tap the screen.
• Erase: Tap .

The way your described was working for me, but then it suddenly stopped working. Now, even when I set the Apple Watch language to "English (US)" and choose that keyboard, the mic does not appear. I updated to 26.2 and the workaround worked for about a week and then just stopped working.

Oh that sucks, only been a few days for me so I guess I'll know soon if it keeps working or not.

I'll clarify my settings just in case it helps someone regardless

iPhone 12 Pro Max 26.2

Preferred Languages: English(US)

Region: Japan

Temperature:C

Measurement System: Metric

1st Keyboard: English(US)

2nd Keyboard: Japanese - Romaji

3rd Keyboard: Emoji

4th Keyboard: Japanese - Kana

Dictation Languages: English (US)

Japanese

Siri: English (US)

Apple Watch Ultra 26.2

Mirror my iPhone

Enable Dictation

Hi there, I’m having the same issue on my new watch 11 with IOS26. Have tried numerous troubleshooting steps with no luck. Interestingly, I have dictation available for notes but not messages.

No matter how many times I have turned the dictation toggle off and on, I cannot get the dictation input option to appear. Only the keyboard and scribble options appear.

Same here. Is this a bug?

I'm also having this issue.

Thank you kindly for sharing your experience with the community.

It will likely be quite helpful to others who look for answers. Cheers :-)