How do I voice text on my Samsung?

Voice texting allows you to dictate text messages and notes using your voice instead of typing on your Samsung device. This can be especially useful for faster messaging, accessibility, multitasking while texting, and in situations where typing is difficult.

According to research from the Text-to-Speech Market, which is expected to grow to $7.6 billion by 2029 [1], using voice typing can enhance text message convenience and productivity. Samsung devices come with built-in voice texting capabilities through Google Voice Typing, Samsung voice input, and voice dictation that allow you to easily dictate messages without typing.

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about setting up and using voice texting on Samsung phones, from enabling the feature and customizing your options to troubleshooting issues. With voice texting enabled, you can enjoy hands-free messaging and faster text input.

Prerequisites

To use voice texting features on a Samsung device, you need the following:

A Samsung Android phone or tablet
Android 8.0 or newer

The stock Samsung keyboard or another keyboard app like Gboard that supports voice typing
A Google account to access Google voice typing

By default, Samsung devices come with the Samsung keyboard. As long as you have a compatible device and Android version, you can start using voice typing without installing any additional apps. Google voice typing also works for voice texting if you prefer it or find it more accurate.

Enable Voice Texting

To enable voice input for texting on your Samsung Galaxy device, first open the Settings app and tap on General management. Under the Keyboard list and Keyboard settings, tap on On-screen keyboard. Here you will see options for all installed keyboard apps on your device. Tap on Samsung keyboard to access settings specific to the Samsung keyboard.

Under Samsung keyboard settings, toggle on the switch next to Voice input to enable it. You may get a pop-up asking you to agree to the Terms and Conditions – make sure to accept these to proceed. Once enabled, you will now have the option to tap the microphone icon on the Samsung keyboard while typing to dictate text instead of typing.

If voice input does not seem to be working, check that the Language is set to one that supports voice input. English (United States) is recommended for best performance. Additionally, check microphone permissions for the Samsung keyboard app in your phone’s settings.

For more troubleshooting tips, see the Samsung Community post here: S20 Speech to Text Not Working.

Use Default Voice Input

Samsung phones come with a built-in voice input option to convert your speech into text (Samsung, 2023). This feature allows you to speak your messages instead of typing them. To enable the default Samsung voice input:

Open the Samsung keyboard and tap the microphone icon.

Allow the phone access to your microphone when prompted.
Speak your message clearly.
Your speech will be converted into text on the screen.

Samsung’s voice input system is integrated with the keyboard and contacts, allowing you to easily dictate messages in a variety of apps. It can learn and adapt to your voice over time for improved accuracy. You can also customize the settings like language, speech rate, and more.

Use Google Voice Typing

Google Voice typing, powered by Google speech recognition, is an excellent alternative keyboard that allows you to speak to type text easily and efficiently. Here are some of the benefits of using Google Voice typing on your Samsung device:

High accuracy speech-to-text engine
Supports multiple languages
Voice typing available anywhere you can access your keyboard

Allows for hands-free texting
Faster than typing for many users

To enable Google voice typing:

Open the Settings app on your Samsung device
Tap General management > Language and input > On-screen keyboard
Tap Google voice typing and switch on “Use Google voice typing”

Once enabled, you can access voice typing from the keyboard in any app by tapping the microphone icon and speaking. Your speech will be transcribed to text. You can speak punctuation marks like commas and periods to have them inserted as you go.

Use Voice Dictation

The voice dictation feature allows you to speak into your Samsung device’s microphone to input text instead of typing. According to a Samsung community post, this can be useful for quickly entering longer sections of text without tapping on the keyboard.

To enable voice dictation on your Samsung device:

Open the Samsung keyboard
Tap on the microphone icon
Allow the permissions for the microphone when prompted

Speak your text into the microphone
Your speech will be transcribed into written text

Once enabled, you can tap the microphone icon at any time to dictate text. Speak clearly and punctuation to have it formatted properly. You can find the microphone icon next to the space bar on the Samsung keyboard.

Customize options for the voice dictation are available in your device’s Settings > General management > Keyboard list and default > Samsung keyboard settings. Here you can enable or disable automatic punctuation, offensive word filtering, and more.

Customize Voice Input

You can customize the voice input to best suit your needs. Options include changing the language and choosing between a male or female voice.

To change the language, go to Settings > Language and Input > Virtual keyboard > Samsung voice input. Tap on Languages and select your preferred language (Samsung Galaxy Note 7 User Manual). You can add multiple languages if needed.

Additionally, you can set the voice type to be a male or female voice. From the Samsung voice input settings, tap on Voice type and select Male or Female. The female voice tends to sound more natural, while the male voice speaks more clearly.

Customizing these voice input settings ensures that Samsung’s voice to text feature works optimally for your personal preferences and needs.

Troubleshooting

There are a few common issues that can crop up with Samsung voice texting, such as the voice recognition not working properly or voice input mishearing words. Fortunately, there some troubleshooting steps you can take to try and resolve these issues.

First, make sure your phone’s software and apps are up to date. Installing the latest updates can help fix bugs that may be causing problems with the voice texting feature. You can check for updates by going to Settings > Software update.

If that doesn’t help, try clearing the cache and data for the Samsung keyboard app or Google Voice Typing app. Here are the steps:

Open Settings > Apps

Select the Samsung keyboard or Google Voice Typing app
Tap on Storage > Clear Cache and Clear Data

Restarting your device can also help reset things. If issues persist after trying these troubleshooting tips, check community forums like this Samsung community thread for solutions from other users experiencing similar problems.

As a last resort, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the voice input app that you primarily use for dictation, like the Samsung voice input app or Google Voice Typing.

Voice Commands

You can use voice commands on your Samsung device to control certain features hands-free, like sending text messages or opening apps. There are two main assistants that offer voice commands on Samsung devices:

Bixby is Samsung’s own voice assistant, built into many of their recent devices. To use Bixby voice commands, press and hold the Bixby button on the side of your device and speak your request. You can also say “Hi Bixby” and issue a command. Useful Bixby voice commands include:

“Send a text message to Mom”
“Open YouTube”
“Turn off WiFi”

To customize Bixby’s settings and available commands, open the Bixby app.

If you prefer Google’s voice assistant, you can enable Google Assistant and use its voice commands instead. Useful Google voice commands include:

“Navigate me home”

“Set a timer for 10 minutes”
“Call my sister”

To enable Google Assistant, install the Google app and turn on Google Voice & Voice Match in Settings. You access Google Assistant by saying “Hey Google” or pressing and holding your device’s home button.

So in summary, Samsung devices offer robust voice command capabilities through Bixby and Google Assistant. Customize to your preference in the device settings.

Conclusion

In summary, the main steps to enable voice texting on your Samsung device are to turn on default voice input in your device settings, enable Google Voice Typing, or use the built-in voice dictation feature. Voice texting provides several benefits, such as allowing you to text hands-free without looking at your screen, quicker messaging, and accessibility for those who have difficulty typing.

Using your voice to create text messages can be more convenient and efficient than typing, especially when driving or multitasking. However, accuracy and privacy should be considered when enabling voice texting. Overall, voice texting is a useful feature that most Samsung devices are capable of.