Speech to Text Punctuation on iPhone: Commands and Auto-Punctuation

How iPhone dictation adds punctuation on its own

In English, iPhone dictation puts in commas, periods and question marks by itself while you talk. That's the "Auto-Punctuation" setting: the phone listens to where you pause and how the sentence sounds, and decides where each mark goes. On iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air with iOS 27, Apple Intelligence also tidies the spelling, punctuation and capitals in what you dictate.

The switch lives next to the dictation setting:

1. Open "Settings", then "General", then "Keyboard".
2. Make sure "Enable Dictation" is on.
3. Turn "Auto-Punctuation" on, or off if you'd rather place every mark yourself by saying it.

Colons, quotes, a new line and every other mark you still say out loud, whichever way the switch is set.

Which punctuation you can say out loud on iPhone

Say the name of the mark right after the word it belongs to, and the mark appears instead of the word. These commands work in iPhone dictation at any time:

Dictating on Android? The words Gboard understands and the Pixel's automatic punctuation are in our guide to voice typing punctuation on Android.

Why iPhone types the word "period" instead of the mark

The command turns into a word when the phone hears it as part of your sentence. Usually that's about timing: a long pause before "period" makes it sound like the start of something new.

The advice that works comes from the Apple Community: "Try saying 'period' immediately after the last word in the sentence; don't pause." The same goes for "comma" and "question mark": say the mark as part of the same breath, as its own word.

Why dictated punctuation still needs fixing before you send

Auto-Punctuation is on and you know the commands. Now every message is two jobs at once: say what you mean, and keep an eye on where the phone thinks your sentences end.

The marks follow your breathing. Stop to think in the middle of a thought, and a period lands there. One Apple Community user describes dictation that "inserts random comma punctuations into my sentences even if I did not state for a comma to be inserted."

You need to tell Kate when you're free and ask if that works. Halfway through, you stop for a second to check the day. Here's what you say and what you get:

The marks are there, and the message still isn't one you'd send. Cleaning it up means going back in with your thumb, word by word, and so does changing your mind about the day.

How to just talk and get a message that reads right

With Aqua Voice you talk the way you'd talk to Kate, and the message arrives punctuated, with the grammar fixed and the "um"s gone. You don't say a single mark: Aqua puts each one where the meaning calls for it, not where you stopped for breath. Say the same thing, pause and all, with an "um" thrown in:

The "um" is gone, and the period sits where the sentence ends, not where you stopped to think. Tap the mic, say it, tap again to finish, and the whole message lands at once.

Changed your mind about the day? You don't go back in with your thumb. Select the text, tap "Edit" and say what should change.

The same works for anything you've written: "make this a list" turns a run-on sentence into bullet points, "make this lowercase" takes the capitals out of a casual reply. Aqua formats an email like an email, and once you add names to its dictionary, it spells them your way.

On iPhone, Aqua is a keyboard you switch to with the globe key. On Android, it's a small button next to the keyboard you already use, so your swipe typing, autocorrect and layout stay exactly as they are.

How to add ready-to-send dictation to your iPhone

Aqua Voice goes on your iPhone as one more keyboard. Apple's keyboard stays for typing, and the globe key brings up Aqua whenever you'd rather talk.

1. Install Aqua Voice from the App Store and open it.
2. Follow its prompt to "Settings": turn on the Aqua keyboard and "Allow Full Access", then allow the microphone.
3. In any text field, tap the globe key to switch to Aqua, tap the mic and talk. When a session starts, Aqua opens its app for a moment to switch on the mic; swipe back to your message and keep going.

How to add ready-to-send dictation on Android

On Android, Aqua Voice sits beside your keyboard instead of replacing it: Gboard or the Samsung keyboard stays as it is, with a small Aqua button next to it. There's nothing to relearn: you type the way you always have and tap the button whenever talking is faster. You need Android 10 or newer.

1. Install Aqua Voice from Google Play and open it.
2. Sign in and allow the microphone.
3. Turn on Aqua in the accessibility settings the app opens for you: that's how it places your words in the text box.
4. Tap any text box. The Aqua button slides out next to the keyboard: tap it, talk, and tap the checkmark.

How do you dictate with punctuation on a Mac or Windows PC?

If you write at a computer too, Wispr Flow does the same there: hold one key, say it, and finished text with commas, periods and paragraphs lands in any window, from email and Slack to Google Docs and Word. The "um"s and false starts drop out, so what you said reads like an email you'd send as is.