Diction vs Apple Dictation
Apple Dictation is built into iOS. It's already on your phone. For many use cases it's fine. Here's where they diverge.
What Apple Dictation does
Press the microphone key on the system keyboard, speak, tap done. Works in most apps. Supports offline for some languages. No subscription required.
It's convenient because it's already there. It's limited because Apple didn't build it for power users — it's a basic accessibility feature that's been around since iOS 5.
Side-by-side
| Diction | Apple Dictation | |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated dictation keyboard | Yes | No — bolted onto system keyboard |
| On-device mode | Yes (WhisperKit) | Yes (Apple models) |
| Self-hosted | Yes | No |
| Cloud mode | Yes (Diction One) | Yes (default) |
| Language support | 100+ (Whisper) | ~60 |
| App Store | Yes | Built-in |
| Open-source server | Yes | No |
| Custom vocabulary | No (yet) | Limited |
| Continuous long-form | Yes | Cuts off after ~30-60 seconds |
| Works in all apps | Yes | Most apps |
The 30-second wall
Apple Dictation stops after about 30 to 60 seconds. It's designed for short inputs: messages, quick searches, short notes. Long-form dictation — composing an email, writing a document, leaving a detailed comment — hits this wall.
Diction doesn't have this limit. You dictate as long as you want. When you're done, it inserts the full text.
Language support
Apple Dictation supports around 60 languages. Diction uses Whisper under the hood, which covers 100+ languages and handles accented speech and mixed-language input better than most systems.
This matters if you're not a native English speaker, if you mix languages, or if you dictate technical terms that standard models mangle.
Privacy
Apple Dictation defaults to sending audio to Apple's servers for transcription. You can enable on-device dictation in Settings, but most people never do.
Diction puts the choice front and center. On-device mode is one of the three modes you pick during setup. It's not buried in a settings page.
If you're already using Apple's on-device dictation, the privacy story is comparable. If you're on default Apple cloud mode, Diction's on-device mode keeps more data local.
When Apple Dictation is better
If you need dictation in one or two places and don't want an extra app, Apple Dictation is fine. It's free, it's there, and it works for short text.
When Diction is better
Diction is better when you want to make dictation your primary input method. It takes over the keyboard completely — you tap the mic, speak, and the text appears in whatever app you're in. There's no switching modes, no finding the mic button, no 30-second cut.
Self-hosting is the biggest differentiator. If you run a home server, you can point Diction at your own Whisper instance. Apple doesn't offer anything equivalent.
The open-source server means you can audit exactly what runs. Apple's transcription stack is a black box.
Diction is available on the App Store. The server is open source at github.com/omachala/diction.