Summary
- I tried Google Docs voice typing, and it works reasonably well after setting up the correct microphone.
- I can speak into Docs on my laptop and use voice commands, but I must slow down, talk clearly, and edit mistakes.
- On Android, keyboards often type my commands as text and aren’t viable for document editing.
Typing for hours every day can get boring, and I often feel wrist strain if I don’t take regular breaks. That’s why I decided to try voice typing to see if it’s a viable alternative. I was hoping I could type out articles on my laptop or smartphone while sitting back and relaxing on my couch. The process wasn’t that simple and required a little more effort than I thought.
Many voice-to-text apps are available from the Microsoft and Google Play Stores, but I was looking to get started with a free option. I also wanted an app that could work on all my devices and sync between them easily. Some apps allow me to use my voice to type, but I have to wait until I’m done before the text is converted from my recording. I chose Google Docs because it ticked all my boxes, and I can scan the text for errors while I’m speaking. However, getting it to work wasn’t as straightforward as I thought. Here’s how it went when I tried Google Docs’ voice typing features.
Voice typing in Windows
Easier than I thought
Getting voice typing to work in Google Docs is straightforward. I navigated to Tools and clicked on the Voice typing option, which opened a window to grant permission to use my laptop’s microphone. I clicked on “Allow while visiting the site,” and it then opened the Click to Speak window. The microphone icon turned red, which usually means it’s recording. This wasn’t the case, and I received another error saying, “Sorry, didn’t hear that. Check microphone.”
I then went into my sound settings and discovered that my headset microphone was set to default, and I needed to change it to the onboard alternative. I set my laptop’s built-in microphone as the default, and tried again. It worked this time, and I could then use the Google Docs voice typing feature by pressing the microphone icon and speaking. I’d never tried it before, and it took some practice to get it right.
The only way to use Google Voice typing proficiently is by learning the commands required for punctuation and editing. The app needs me to say the word ‘period’ to end a sentence or “new paragraph” to create a space. The commands list is quite long, and some work better than others. I found that I could easily select words or paragraphs and copy and paste using the voice commands. They also work well for adding bold or italic text and changing cases.
Voice typing in Google Docs works well because I can see the words being typed out while I speak. However, I have to slow down my speech for the app to understand it correctly. My speech must also be loud and clear because the app will ignore some words and mistype others. It often misheard “docs” as “dogs,” and I needed to go back and correct it.
Accuracy isn’t bad, but it occasionally gets certain words wrong or fails to hear others. There’s occasionally some lag while it’s figuring out what I’m saying, and the delay can also be irritating. I also have to think carefully before speaking because Google Docs will type anything I say, even if it’s by mistake.
I also have to think carefully before speaking because Google Docs will type anything I say, even if it’s by mistake.
After some practice, I could type reasonably fast using this voice-to-text system, but I still needed to go back and correct errors because of the accuracy issues. I could probably improve my overall voice typing abilities after learning the required commands and perfecting my tone. For now, I’m way faster and more accurate at typing the old-fashioned way.
Voice typing on Android
Not what I wanted
The best thing about using Google Docs is that I can start typing an article on my laptop, then continue it on my phone while I’m sitting in the garden or waiting for my daughter to finish school. Using Google Docs voice typing on my phone was similar to the laptop experience, with the main difference being that I could choose between the various keyboard apps installed on my phone. When I first got started, I tried the Samsung, Microsoft Swift, Gboard, and AI keyboards to see how they performed.
Each has a slightly different layout, but required me to press the microphone icon to get started. The Microsoft Swift keyboard uses proprietary voice typing technology and started out promising. I abandoned my efforts to use it because it just couldn’t understand my “new paragraph” command. The AI keyboard and Samsung keyboards are great for conventional typing, but hand over the reins to Google Voice typing for text-to-speech work. I had similar issues, and neither could decipher commands like “select last word” or “new paragraph.”
Gboard was my last hope, and I had high hopes that Google integration would solve my problems. This wasn’t the case, and while it could understand my words and simple commands, like “period” and “new paragraph,” I couldn’t get it to accept the more advanced options required to type a document. It couldn’t handle commands, like “select last paragraph,” “delete last word,” and others that had worked fine on the desktop version. Instead of executing the commands, it recorded them as text in my document without taking the necessary action.
I was disappointed with the significant difference in voice typing quality between my laptop and phone, so I tried to fix the issue. I uninstalled the third-party keyboards, changed the default language from South African to United States English, and restarted my phone. I then tried Gboard and Google Voice typing again, but I had the same issue. Google Docs didn’t understand my commands and typed them out as text. I then returned to the Windows-based version and all the commands worked without any problems. For now, I can only use Google Docs voice typing on my laptop, and I hope the mobile version catches up and can work just as well in the future.
