Apple's dictation is not enough anymore
Apple's dictation is built into iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and it costs nothing. For many people that is already enough. This page is about the point where it stops being enough, and what changes if you switch.
When the built-in tool is enough.
For short messages, quick notes, or the occasional sentence, the dictation built into iOS and macOS covers it. It is always there, you load nothing and set up nothing. For a lot of people that is genuinely enough, and that is not an understatement.
Where it gets tight.
Long dictations push against a limit, because the built-in tool is designed for short input. There is no history of your own, once you close the app a dictated text is gone. Your own terms, names, or technical language cannot be saved as a rule. There is no choice between recognition engines, you get exactly one. If you dictate longer texts regularly, this is the first thing you notice.
What Diktat adds.
Diktat keeps every dictation in a history, 7 days on the free tier. Your own dictionary turns a recognized term into the spelling you prefer, useful for names and technical terms. Paragraphs form automatically at real speech pauses, without you announcing them. On Mac the text also sits in your clipboard, in case pasting into the field does not work. You choose between three recognition engines, depending on your language and device.
What stays the same.
Like the built-in tool, recognition runs on your device. Diktat does not rewrite your text and does not remove filler words. There is no account and no subscription. The difference is not the approach, it is the scope.
Who the switch is worth it for.
If you dictate a message now and then, the built-in tool serves you well. There is no need to change anything. If you regularly speak longer texts, need your own terms, or want a history, you hit a limit. That limit will not move. The first 5 dictations a day are free in Diktat, so trying it costs nothing.
Common questions.
Isn't Apple's dictation free enough already?
It is free and available in every text field, which covers a lot of situations. Diktat only costs something once you need more than 5 dictations a day or features like history and a dictionary.
What can Diktat do that the built-in tool cannot?
A history of your dictations, your own dictionary for names and technical terms, and automatic paragraphs at speech pauses. Plus a choice between three recognition engines depending on your device and language.
Does Diktat work without internet like Apple's dictation?
The dictation itself never leaves your device. Downloading the recognition engine needs a connection once, after that it runs without internet.