iPhone 4S keyboard dictation does not work - associated with Siri?

Yes that is true and I found that if you use Siri to dicate something it got the regular dictation working. I was haveing the same problem and then had Siri dictate and send a text. After that the regular dictation option when it appears has been working since.

My problem is similar with a variation. Siri is working fine. The dictation feature, however, has suddenly stopped working (and I was so excited about it when I started using it - and I haven't used it that much). I don't have text enabled, by the way, so I can't use Frank's suggestion above.

I have a 4-bar 3G connection (I live in Wilmington, NC - the town where my provider has its HQ, so the connection is not the issue). However, when I attempt to use the dictation feature, all I get is a spinning wheel next to the 3G icon and 3 pulsing purple dots, which don't stop until I hit the Home button or some other key. The dictated text never materializes. This makes me quite sad and frustrated. Up until now, I have been unequivocally in love with my IPhone 4S, and I want to be completely in love with it again.

I'd really appreciate a helpful solution.

**An update - Siri can take the dictation that I wanted to use with the microphone icon (she just wrote up a note for me, for example), but I really want to be able to go straight to the application and hit the microphone icon, to use fewer words/keystrokes, etc.

Having the exact same problem. I was able to dictate emails, web searches and emails until today. Siri is still working, however.

I am having the same exact problem -- it is quite frustrating. I even backed up the phone, and even went through the full restore. I have only had the phone 10 days, but I have become quite dependent on the Siri voice texting and note taking functions. As of an hour ago, I have switched back to using the Dragon dictation app. I just wish it could work right through the SMS prog on the iPhone.

I called Apple about this issue, and they said to try turning off Siri in settings, then turning off the iPhone. Unfortunately, this did not work. The tech support person I spoke with said she had already gotten other calls about this issue, and the more calls they get, the more attention Apple will pay to this issue.

Ok, here is my problem in a nutshell, I am on Verizon(don't know if that makes a difference or not). Anyway for some strange reason my keyboard dictation stopped working as of today. I have only had the phone for 8 days, this is my first smart phone and my first Apple purchase ever.

After 5 calls with Apple tech support they can offer me nothing except to say that on the Iphone 4S the Siri is in beta mode and the engineers are working on it. I mean come on, the Iphone 4S, the flagship of the Apple Iphone line and it doesn't work properly, I am really frustrated right now!

Oh and by the way the Siri works fine either by cellular 3G or WiFi, just not in the keyboard dictation mode which by the way is covered in the Iphone users guide, Chapter 3, basics, page 24.

Bill

I am seeing the exact same issue, with either my home WiFi or Sprint 3G. I never know when it's going to fail and it doesn't seem to matter how long the speech is. FWIW, the issue isn't fixed in the current 5.1 beta; it's likely a network/server issue though.

Well, I lied - it must be a connection issue. The dictation feature blinks out occasionally, but not for as long as that first time, and I always get a spinning wheel next to the "3G" icon. Every now and then, Siri herself also takes a couple of tries to accomplish, say, a phone call.

(I'm still in love, though. So far, both have been working 99% of the time.)

This is a common problem, at least amongst the iPhone 4S users I know (including me). Siri is very cool, except very unreliable, and dictation is so unreliable as to be useless. In real life, it's always faster to talk than type; in Siri-land, it's unpredictably-but-usually faster to type or tap than to talk (because you need to talk and wait repeatedly), meaning it's useless.

Reminder for Apple:

Word gets around: Siri is useless, and useless is not cool.

UPDATE: turning Siri off then rebooting the phone helped dramatically. I tried that long ago and it didn't seem to help much, but after reading the earlier posts in this thread, I tried it again, and it helped me a lot. I'll see if it helps the others, but I must say I am optimistic. It went from failing 4/5 or more of the time, especially the dictation, to succeeding 4/5 or more of the time.

Useful is very cool indeed.

Dictating is a thousand times more useful than typing with one's too fat fingers on a flea-sized keyboard. Now I actually have patience when texting - not to mention taking notes, making shopping lists, searching for locations, voice dialing. etc. The occasional times when the network blinks out is nothing to me now. I love Siri. If I could marry her, I would.