The above screenshot displays main screen of Automator Action to do Mouse Clicking from Automator Workflow. Left Click, Middle Click, Right Click, Mouse Scrolling, Moving Mouse Cursor, Text Typing onto Active Application Window and pressing return Key on Keyboard is currently supported by this Automator Action for Mac. The speech-recognition feature can be especially helpful for people with disabilities who can't use the keyboard or mouse. But it's available to anyone who'd like to try talking to Windows instead.
Typing is hard work, especially if you use a computer keyboard for a living. No wonder many typists eventually end up with carpal tunnel syndrome. So as voice dictation has improved by leaps and bounds, so has its popularity amongst users. As well as the industry-favourite Dragon, MacOS dictation is also really great to use.
Obviously you need a good microphone, as well as a clear voice. Strong accents and dialects can cause problems, especially for my Scottish accent, so speaking slowly is a must.
Setting Up MacOS Dictation
There really isn’t a lot of “setting up” to do, as the MacOS dictation feature is already baked into the operating system. But you do need to switch it on, as well as a few housekeeping tasks.
First, go to System Preferences.
Then in the settings window, choose Keyboard.
Then the Dictation tab.
Now let’s look at each thing in turn.
Switching MacOS Dictation On
This one is pretty obvious. Click “On” to turn it on. I would recommend however that when you are not using it, you leave it switched off. This is because it is easy to accidentally activate it when you don’t mean to, and it is simple to switch back on when you DO need it.
What Is “Enhanced Dictation”?
If Enhanced Dictation is not switched on, OS X transmits a recording of your dictation to Apple’s servers for processing. A few seconds later, the dictated text appears in your document. This means there is a slight lag before you see your text. If you are trying to get a document done quickly, that lag can quickly become annoying. Especially if you look back and notice a typo or two in the last paragraph.
With Enhanced Dictation enabled, you don’t have to wait for your dictation to be processed by Apple servers. This is because the dictation transcription is handled locally. This means there is no lag whatsoever, and your dictation will appear on the screen live and in real time.
So in other words, switch it on. There’s no reason not to.
When you switch the “Use Enhanced Dictation” option on for the first time, it will download and install a 800MB file, containing essential components. Then you’re good to go.
Choose Your Audio Device
Most people will probably use the internal microphone in their Mac for dictation. But some, including myself, also have an external USB microphone which can pick up better sound. If you have one too, by plugging it in, you can drop down the menu and choose the right audio device.
Pick Your Language & Dialect
Now you have to pick your language and dialect. Dialects are only available for some languages and not for others. For example, Italian is Italian and Turkish is Turkish. But other languages – especially English, German, and French – have various dialects you can choose from.
Drop down the menu by clicking the blue arrows on the right, and you will see a “Customize” option. Then you will see this:
Mac Dictation Not Working
This is all of the languages available from Apple. You simply choose the ones you want by ticking them, and the language packs will be downloaded. Untick the ones you don’t need to keep things tidy.
As you can see in the French and German section, there are different dialects to choose from. Although curiously, there is not an option for Austrian German.
Choose a Shortcut To Activate MacOS Dictation
This is vitally important, as you don’t want to choose anything which you are likely to activate accidentally.
I personally use the one above – pressing the Function key twice – but there are other options if you drop the menu. If you don’t like one of the ones on offer, you can specify one of your own.
If you choose to switch the shortcut off, you can access dictation from the Edit menu. But a shortcut is so much easier.
Required Keyword Phrase
If you have enabled MacOS dictation, you should now see a small microphone in the top right of your screen, next to your clock. Clicking on that will reveal something called the “Required Keyword Phrase“.
This is where you don’t even use the keyboard shortcut or the menu option. Instead, your computer listens out for you saying the word “computer” and then it dictates what you say from then on.
However, as you can imagine, everytime you say “computer” in another context, you’ll be switching dictation on all the time. So there is the potential for chaos here. For that reason, keep it switched off unless you really need to have it.
However, if you are a Trekkie, this will put you in Trekkie heaven.
Testing The MacOS Dictation Feature
Now that everything has been set up, let’s now test it out to see how accurate it is.
Open up a word processing application (Notes, TextEdit, Pages, Google Docs….) then open MacOS Dictation by whatever method you chose in the settings. A small microphone will now pop up on the screen.
If you have more than one language pack installed, clicking on the language (or country) will give you the option to seamlessly switch languages.
Also bear in mind that as soon as that microphone pops up, it is now listening for something to transcribe. When you are finished dictating, press “Done“.
I started to dictate the start of this article, and it was 100% perfect.
Conclusion
Voice dictation is not for everyone as it requires you to think fast on your feet. Otherwise you will spend all of your time editing out all the ehms and errs.
But if you can train yourself to use dictation quickly and effectively, you will not only save heaps of time, but your hands, wrists, and arms will thank you too.
Dictation and Enhanced Dictation not working on a Mac computer, how to fix?
For many years, computers controlled by voice seemed like science fiction and were only seen in movies. Now, however, Apple have released a number of features that use voice recognition including Siri and Dictation. Many Mac users are familiar with these features and use them regularly. The dictation feature converts spoken words into text, while Siri is an assistant that listens to spoken requests and can compose short messages and emails.
Apple released an improved version of the dictation feature called Enhanced Dictation, which allows you to use it without an Internet connection. This feature became quite popular, but also had various issues. People reported that the dictation feature did not work properly or stopped working altogether after they updated the operating system. Although these issues appear after a system update, there are several methods to address these problems.
Table of Contents:
It is recommended to run a free scan with Malwarebytes - a tool to detect malware and fix computer errors. You will need to purchase the full version to remove infections and eliminate computer errors. Free trial available.
List of quick tips to solve Dictation problems
- Try disabling dictation and turn it back on again
- This action often solves the problem and does not require a great deal of time and knowledge.
Try to turn off the dictation and restart the device. Once booted, re-enable the voice recognition feature. - Disabling does not always solve the issue, but restarting operating system between turning the feature off and back on again, can work.
- Open Finder and click on Edit in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Then select Start Dictation. Use the dictation shortcut to begin - the default shortcut is the Function Key (Fn) pressed twice. Check, if any running applications are causing the problems.
- To test, close all active apps and try using Dictation. If it works while none of the applications are running, launch each of app and test the voice recognition feature in a process of elimination. This step takes time, but might solve the issue. If you find the problem app/s, check if there are any updates or try to contact the app developer for a more accurate solution.
Basic solutions for Dictation issues
- Open System Preferences, select Keyboard, and choose the Dictation tab. In the left side of the window under the microphone icon, click on the drop-down menu and choose Internal or External microphone rather than Automatic. Many users report that his simple step solved issues with dictation.
- Launch Finder and click on Go in the menu bar at of the screen. Then select Go to folder, type in the following destination: ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.assistant.plist and press Go. When you see the particular selected file, move it to trash and restart the Mac. When the computer starts, open System Preferences and select Keyboard. Choose the Dictation tab and disable this feature. Then restart the Mac again. Once the computer has booted, turn on Dictation and check if the problem is solved.
- Clear the speech recognition user library cache folder by using the Go to Folder function in Finder. Type in the following destination: ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.SpeechRecognitionCore and click Go. When you see the file selected in Finder's window, move it to Trash.
- Download another language. Visit the Keyboard pane under System Preferences and select the Dictation tab. Then click to select language and choose add language. Some users state that by downloading and installing another language pack, their native language is reset and this solved the issue.
- Try turning off your antivirus application. If you are using any antivirus software, the Dictation feature can be blocked, since it sends and receives data from the Apple Server over the internet. Enhanced dictation does not have this problem.
- Open Sound under System Preferences and choose the Input tab. Try to set the input volume to a level higher than middle. If you still have problem, turn on the ambient noise reduction option. If you are using an external microphone, check the manufacturer's support site for more accurate instructions on how to adjust its settings.
- Enable Enhanced Dictation.
What is Enhanced Dictation?
Enhanced Dictation is the improved version of a speech recognition tool that was released with OS X Mavericks version 10.9 and is available on all newer versions.
What is new in Enhanced Dictation?
The new version allows you to dictate continuously, without interruption. Your words will be translated within the computer, not sent over the Internet, so the network connection is not required. You can use also dictation commands to instruct the Mac to carry out tasks.
What is the main difference between regular and enhanced dictation?
Regular dictation sends the recorded words and other data to the Apple Server where they are converted into text. Therefore, to use regular dictation, the Mac must be connected to the Internet - converting words into text will take longer and your speaking time is restricted to 40 seconds at a time, or 30 seconds if you are using OS X Yosemite or an earlier version. As it mentioned above, the enhanced version works locally on the computer, so the Internet connection is not necessary and the speaking cycle is unrestricted.
Most common methods to solve Enhanced Dictation issues
Check the microphone.
Open System Preferences, select Keyboard, and choose the Dictation tab. On the left side of the window under the microphone icon, click the drop-down menu and choose Internal microphone rather than Automatic.
Reset the voice recognition feature
Go to System Preferences and select Keyboard. Then choose the Dictation tab. Uncheck Enhanced Dictation and restart the Mac. Once the computer has booted, visit the Dictation pane and turn Enhanced Dictation on.
Try adding a language
Visit System Preferences and select the Keyboard pane. Choose the Dictation tab and disable enhanced dictation - off. Try to add another language and turn enhanced dictation on - this should force the computer to download a new language pack.
Reset dictation languages manually
Disable enhanced dictation by following the steps above. Then open Finder and click on Go in the menu bar at top of the screen, and then select Go To Folder. In the search field, type the following destination: /Library/Speech/Recognizers/SpeechRecognitionCoreLanguages/ and click Go. Look for a folder named en_US.SpeechRecognition or similar to your native language. When you have deleted the folder with your language, restart the Mac. Once the computer has booted, turn on enhanced dictation and check if it starts to download the language pack.
Alternative method to solve Dictation issues
How To Use Dictation Mac
Users have reported that this (rather convoluted) method solved dictation issues when none of the above methods worked:
- Go to System Preferences and open Users & Groups.
- Create a new temporary administrator account.
- Reboot the Mac and log in with the newly-created admin account.
- Change the main account permissions from Administrator to Standard by unchecking 'Allow user to administer this computer'.
- Disable parental control on the main account.
- Change the main account permissions back to administrator.
- Reboot the Mac and log in with your main administrator account.
- Delete temporary administrator account and enable dictation.
Comments are closed.