iOS has built-in Voice Dictation. This feature is available on the iPad 3 or newer, including the iPad Mini, as well as on the iPhone 4S and newer iPhone 5. You must perform a one-time activation of the Dictation feature, viz:
- Settings > General > Dictation ON
Thereafter, in any app that puts up on the on-screen keyboard (e.g. Notes, Pages, etc), the voice Dictation button appears immediately to the left of the spacebar.
- Tap the Dictation key and dictate. When finished, tap the Dictation key again and your text will appear.
Note: Since Dictation uses cloud-based computing to convert your speech into text, you must have a network connection (WiFi or 3G) to use dictation.
More tips: carleton.ca/iteam/tips
References
- iOS: Voice Dictation, Apple.com
- How to activate and use Voice Dictation via the iPad and iPhone onscreen keyboard, Greg O’Connor, spectronicsinoz.com, Apr 3 2012
- How to Use iPad Voice Dictation, Daniel Nations, About.com
- Mac Basics: Dictation (these textual commands work in iOS)