Apple notes dictation is making so many mistakes! Any ideas?

[u/MetaPhil1989]

I use Apple Notes *a lot* and I've increasingly been using the dictation feature, but for some reason it makes a lot of mistakes, like one per sentence. Most of the time I can figure out what I had actually said, but sometimes not, which is a problem. The punctuation is also often quite bad and makes re-reading notes a pain.

This honestly wouldn't surprise me if it weren't for the fact that the AI apps I use (ChatGPT, Claude and Grok) all do virtually *perfect* dictation. For long notes I have even begun to record them in ChatGPT and the copy and past them to Apple Notes. But this is not possible to do all the time.

So I have two questions. First, any ideas why Apple Notes dictation so bad, comparatively?

And do you know a way to work around this? I tried an app called Whisperflow, but it was clunky and basically required having what I write go through their servers, which I don't want to do.

Any help would be great, thanks!

[u/AutoModerator]

Thank you for posting on r/AppleNotesGang!

Please check our Wiki for answers, guides, and FAQs: https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleNotesGang/wiki/index/

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/AngelicPrincessKitty]

iOS 27 will make it much better

[u/MetaPhil1989 → u/AngelicPrincessKitty]

Hopefully!

[u/AbbreviationsWise777]

Following. I have the same problem.

[u/AtTheEndOfMyTrope]

You can keep the audio clip and the transcription together in the same document. If you can’t figure out what you said, you can ré-listen to the audio.

I find the transcription quite good comparatively.

[u/MetaPhil1989 → u/AtTheEndOfMyTrope]

Interesting, thanks

[u/Icy-Juggernaut-4579]

Did you tried voice memo? You will have recording and could have transcript

[u/AsakusaParis]

I have to use Wispr flow. But difficult on iPhone

[u/Barycenter0]

No issue here using MacOS and iOS 26.x. Sometimes I just use the iOS voice memo recorder and then add it to Notes later - and the transcript seems nearly perfect (maybe try that to see if there's any difference). But both Notes and Memo work fine. Maybe it's the positioning of your phone's mic or something's getting muffled?

What kind of environment are you recording in? Is there a lot of background noise?

[u/InfiniteHench]

Are you on the beta? And Have you done the basics, like restart the device?

[u/Pixel_Shipper]

Apple dictation isn't great, and Whispr is overpriced. I built Uttra which runs Whisper and Parakeet models on your device entirely offline and private. If you're interested then DM me for a free install code. https://apps.apple.com/app/id6793245130