How do I turn the microphone on for texting on an Android?

Enabling the microphone for texting allows voice input for creating messages on Android devices. This can be a helpful feature for quickly composing texts hands-free, without having to type them out using the on-screen keyboard. Voice input enables you to speak your messages and have them automatically converted into text.

Prerequisites

There are a few prerequisites that need to be met in order to turn on the microphone for texting on an Android device:

The device needs to be an Android phone or tablet. Android provides built-in support for voice typing and speech recognition through the Google app. This functionality won’t work on iOS or other operating systems (Android Developer Documentation).

The device needs to have a working microphone. The phone or tablet microphone is used to capture your voice and speech so it can be converted to text (Google Voice Access Help).

The Google app with voice typing enabled needs to be installed. The speech recognition is powered by Google, so you need the Google app and voice typing enabled in your device settings and app permissions (Verizon Voice Input Guide).

Enable Voice Typing in Google App

To start using voice typing for texting, you first need to enable the Voice Typing feature in the Google app. Here’s how:

Open the Google app and tap on your profile picture or initial in the top right corner. Then go to Settings.[1]

Under Settings, tap on Voice. Then tap on Voice Typing.

Toggle the switch next to ‘Use Voice Typing’ to the ON position to enable voice typing.

This will allow you to use your voice to type messages in any app that supports keyboard input. The Google app converts your speech to text.

Enable Microphone Permission

To allow an app to access your microphone on Android, you need to enable the microphone permission for that specific app in your device’s settings.

Follow these steps:

Go to the Settings app on your Android device.
Tap on “Apps” or “Applications.”
Select the app you want to enable microphone access for from the list.

Tap “Permissions.”
Find “Microphone” in the list of permissions and toggle it on so the switch is blue or green.

This will allow the selected app to access your microphone when needed. You can toggle the microphone permission off again at any time to revoke access.

Some key points about microphone permissions on Android:

You need to allow microphone access on a per-app basis.
When first launched, apps will prompt you to allow or deny microphone access.

You can manage permissions in Settings at any time after initial setup.
Look for microphone, audio, or record audio permissions depending on Android version.

Enabling the microphone permission allows apps like messaging, voice assistants, video recording, and calling apps to access your phone’s microphone when needed. Disable access if you don’t want an app listening in.

Open Messaging App

The next step is to open your preferred messaging or texting app on your Android phone. There are many popular messaging apps to choose from, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Signal, and the default Messages app.

Once you have launched your messaging app, tap in the text field at the bottom where you normally type messages. This will bring up the on-screen keyboard. Tapping in this text field is what allows you to start speaking your message instead of typing it.

Some popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram have voice typing built right in. For others, you may need to enable voice typing in your device settings first before the microphone option shows up.

Tap Microphone Icon

To start voice typing your message, you need to tap the microphone icon on the keyboard. Here is how to find and enable it:

Find the microphone icon on the on-screen keyboard. On the default Android keyboard, it is located on the bottom left corner next to the space bar. According to Google’s Gboard support page, the microphone icon may look slightly different depending on your device, but is usually easy to locate.

Tap and hold the microphone icon. When you tap it, you should see a prompt appear asking for microphone access or permission to enable voice typing.

Allow access if prompted. You need to grant the messaging app permission to access your phone’s microphone and enable voice typing. Tap “Allow” if you see a permissions prompt. This will let you dictate your messages.

Speak Message

Once the microphone icon is tapped, you can begin speaking your message into your phone’s microphone. Speak clearly and at a normal volume into the microphone. As you speak, Google’s speech recognition will transcribe your words into text in real-time. The text should appear on the screen as you talk.

Make sure to speak at a reasonable pace and enunciate your words. You can make edits to the transcribed text at any time by tapping on the text field. This allows you to correct any errors made during the speech transcription process. Review the message and make any necessary edits before sending it.

According to Google’s Gboard Help page, “Talk to write” using Google’s voice typing technology (source). As you speak clearly into your Android device’s microphone, it will transcribe your speech into text that appears on the screen.

Send Message

Once you have finished speaking your message, you will need to send it to complete the voice messaging process. To do this, simply tap the Send button or arrow icon after you have finished speaking. This will finalize and deliver the voice-typed message to the desired recipient.

According to the Gboard Help article on voice typing, “When done, tap Send or the arrow icon to send the voice-typed message.”¹ Tapping this Send or arrow button is the final step to actually send your voice message on an Android device.

Troubleshooting

If you are having issues getting voice typing to work properly on your Android device, here are some troubleshooting tips:

First, check that the messaging app has permission to access the microphone. Go to Settings > Apps & notifications > App permissions > Microphone and make sure the messaging app is allowed. If not, toggle it on. As per this guide, granting microphone access is the most common fix for voice typing issues.

Next, ensure that Google voice typing is enabled in your Google app settings. Go to Settings > Google > Account services > Search, Assistant & Voice > Voice and toggle on “Use voice typing” if it is disabled. As explained by this source, Google voice typing needs to be enabled for voice input in messaging apps.

Finally, if voice typing accuracy seems low, try retraining the voice model. Go to Settings > System > Languages & input > Virtual keyboard > Gboard > Voice typing > Retrain voice model. This will prompt you to record some phrases to help Gboard learn your voice.

With microphone access granted, Google voice typing enabled, and voice model retrained, you should be able to get voice input working properly in your Android messaging apps.

Conclusion

In just a few quick steps, you can enable voice typing for hands-free text messaging on Android devices. First, make sure Voice Typing is enabled in the Google app settings. Then grant microphone permissions in your messaging app settings. Once that’s complete, simply open your messaging app, tap the microphone icon, and start speaking your message. The convenience of dictating text messages on the go can’t be overstated.

With voice typing enabled, you don’t have to slow down and painstakingly type out messages. Just speak naturally and your words will be transcribed into text to send to friends, family, coworkers, and anyone else you need to contact. Voice typing makes messaging faster, easier, and more accessible. Give it a try next time you need to send a text on your Android phone or tablet.