How do you enable dictation with smart keyboard?

That is a good workaround. Thanks.

That works!

Good workaround for now!

Niiice!

Good job finding this!

😉

When you want to use dictation lift your iPad off of the keyboard without disconnecting it from the smart connector, press on the mic button on the on screen keyboard then put the iPad back down on the keyboard (the soft keyboard will disappear but dictation is still going) and continue dictating until you're done.

This proves that all Apple really needs to do to address this problem, is add a shortcut.

Yup,

This works, too, and I agree.

Apple won't see any of our suggestions until we send our feedback where it needs to go.

Send Apple feedback about the microphone Bluetooth keyboard and smart keyboard shortcut idea to Apple here.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

I have done this several times about this issue, but will send another, again.

Good Luck & get your feeedback out there!

Agreed, and I sent them the same info before posting it to prove all it needs is a shortcut.

I just received my iPad Pro and I am running iOS 9.3.1. When the smart keyboard is attached and you have tapped into a field you will see the prodictive typing toolbar at the bottom of the screen. In the bottom right corner will be a chevron that is pointing down. If you tap it the toolbar temporarily hides, If you tap and hold instead the on screen keyboard will appear and give access to the dictation mike. Hope this helps.

And if you press down on that one time, you will never see it again in any app until you go into settings and turn it off and back on again, making it useles. If I have a keyboard, why would I want predictive typing? I can type faster on a keyboard than clicking on predictive words, that just slows me down. And yes I had pressed down on that once (no keyboard needs to be attached) and it's gone forever, unless you remember to turn it off and on again in the general settings area.

Now if it would go away when you pressed down on that, and came back up if you exited that window and came back or switched to a different app, that would work. Why it doesn't work like this when you already have the option to turn it off period, is a bug, or a poor software design. You should never have to turn something off and on again to get it back. If that is the way it works, why would you need the switch at all??

The solution suggested by malja07 worked great for me.

I'm not sure I understand the issue that you're posing with that solution, Ourdoc. But I can say that I've used malja07's fix multiple times, without ever having to go back into settings to do anything along the lines you're describing. It's quick, easy, and much better on the longevity of the hardware (particularly the thin plastic that the keyboard is made from).

Push the down arrow without holding it. The entire bar disappears and does not return. The only way my iPad Pro will bring it back is by going into settings. It's far too easy to hit it by accident or not long enough. And if you forget, you will not see it again without resetting it.

Now if on others iPads it automagically reappears, then my iPad pro has bugs. But my two neighbors who also have the iPad Pro say it works the same for them. They hit that down arrow button on the first day, and didn't know it was available any longer as they never saw it again when I asked them about it yesterday. In fact they had forgotten all about it until I asked them, and now have it back.

My point, as long as it is turned on in settings and remains on, when you lower the window or go out of window and then come back, so should that bar.

I'd bet the majority of people out there have forgotten that bar is even available... NOt saying it doesn't work, just saying the acces to that bar is not what it SHOULD be. If I have it ON in settings, why does it remain hidden until I turn it off and back on again? I can see the use to turn it off in settings, but why off and on to get it back?

Huh -- sounds like a glitch in your setup, possibly. When I hit the down arrow button, the bar does go away. But the moment I enter a text field and start typing with the keyboard, it comes back up. Confirmed on two others that it works the same for them.

Bad news. I think this workaround is not working any more after upgrading to iOS 10. It is really frustrating not to be able to activate dictation when smart keyboard is connected. I can't understand how is it possible Apple has such miss functions and do nothing (or do something but inefficient) to solve this.

I don't really understand what Apple are doing. They have designed a keyboard which they claim is smart, but is missing key features like dictation and isn't even capable of understanding which language my keyboard is. Just to make myself perfectly clear. I mainly use dictation for everything and the keyboard to correct and modify changes.

Because I have to disconnect the smart keyboard to be able to use dictation, the Smart keyboard actually becomes a problem rather than a solution.

If you look at how difficult it would be to solve this issue compared to the amount of time this product has been on the market. This is definitely not a mistake from Apple point of view, it's pure neglection or incompetence!

Thorleif0 wrote:

isn't even capable of understanding which language my keyboard is

Could you elaborate on that problem?

My problem with the lack of Smart keyboard language being automatically recognized, is mostly related to how iOS and dictation work together.

On my macOS the dictation and keyboard layout are separated which lets me use Norwegian keyboard layout with English dictation. Because I have to change keyboard layout to change dictation language in iOS, I have to switch between English and Norwegian keyboard layout. This works OK but it's not preferable when I'm not using the Smart keyboard. but this is extremely annoying when I'm trying to switch between English dictation and then Norwegian smart keyboard.

What I would suggest is that iOS would separate the language between keyboard and dictation similar to macOS, and have the iPad automatecally recognize the keyboard layout of the Smart keyboard and switch to a compatible layout.

Send your ideas/complaints/feedback to Apple here.

iPad Feedback

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

Good Luck to you!