Comparing macOS Dictation With Google Voice Typing

You have two main options for speaking to your Mac and having it take dictation. There is the built-in macOS Dictation function which works almost everywhere on your Mac. If you use Google Docs and Chrome, you can also dictate using Google's Voice Typing feature. Google's option seems to work better for typing, but macOS allows you to dictate in other apps and is highly customizable.

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Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Today let's compare two of three ways for you to do speech to text on your Mac.
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So a lot of people ask me how they can dictate to their Mac. There is a way built into MacOS to allow you to dictate and some people are looking for something better. Now there used be some software that was really popular that did it but that's kind of been discontinued. So people are looking for other methods. So using the built-in Mac OS functionality is great and that's the way I do it. But some people look for another solution. There is another one. It's using Goggle Docs. Using the free service from Goggle you can dictate into a word processing document. Now there are pros and cons to both.
So to use MacOS's built in functionality you want to go to System Preferences and then you want to go to Keyboard, Dictation. Make sure that Dictation is turned on and you have Enhanced Dictation checked. Then you can check your keyboard shortcut to see which one you're using. That's the basics. But you also can go into Accessibility and from there look for Dictation on the left. Here is where you can access dictation commands because it's not all just about saying words. You need to be able to do things like select words and change styles and things like that. So you can look through all the different commands that you can speak while in dictation and it will use it to alter the text.
So let's give it a test by going into Pages here. I'll use the fn key twice to start dictation and we'll give it a go. Gary speaking, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog period. This seems to work pretty well period. Plus with enhanced dictation comma you can type at the same time to combine the best of both worlds period. So you can see there it worked pretty well but it didn't get everything right. It messed up a little bit there. I was talking a little bit too fast. I find if I slow down a little bit then it usually works better.
The other option is to use Goggle Docs. Goggle Docs is a free service from Goggle. If you've got a Goggle account or a Gmail account you can go and login and go to docs.goggle.com and create a document there. Then there's a feature there called Voice Typing. So the most important thing to remember here is you have to use Chrome. You cannot use another browser because the functionality to take the audio from your microphone and then use it in the doc, that is built into Chrome so you're not going to get that with Safari or Firefox. You just go to docs.goggle.com, that's how you get in there, and I'm going to start a new word processing document. So this is the word processor. Some of you may already use it.
Now you go to Tools and there's Voice Typing. You see Command, Shift, S is the shortcut. When you select that it brings up a little control here and I can click it to speak or I can use the keyboard shortcut. Gary speaking, the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog period. This also works pretty well period. It seems to be getting all the words without much trouble exclamation point. 
I clicked again to stop it. Now there are also commands associated with this. They are built in. There's a document here, a support document, that gives you a list of all these and you can see here there's tons of voice commands for selecting text, formatting, editing, all sorts of things. You can do similar things with the built in MacOS functionality but it seems that it's a little bit more robust here with Goggle.
If you're just going to write a word processing document and you don't mind using Goggle Docs instead of say Pages or TextEdit or something else then I think using Voice Typing is the clear winner. However, if you want to be able to use dictation anywhere, you know in Messages, in emails, typing on forms in Safari, then of course you really need to go with the built in functionality because this is not going to work if you're inside of Goggle Docs.
Another advantage of using the built in functionality in MacOS is that you're already signed up for it. Right. You don't have to get anything additional. With Goggle, of course, you have to do the Goggle account. You have to sign in to it. You have to be using Goggle Docs and you have to be working in Chrome which is probably not as optimal especially if you're on a MacBook and using Safari. 
Another advantage to using MacOS is you can customize the voice commands. You can actually add new ones. So when you say something you can do all sorts of things in different applications. You can even run Automator workflows. All sorts of stuff. So it's highly customizable. So I think there are advantages to both. I would encourage you, since they're free, to try them both and see which one works better for you. But if they seem to be more or less the same then probably go with built in MacOS dictation.

Comments: 6 Responses to “Comparing macOS Dictation With Google Voice Typing”

Doug

6 years ago

Why didn’t you use the same text with each? A better test would be a recording. You might even speed up and slow down to test. Finally, why would you not point out that they are not both free? Google requires you to allow it to use everything you give it to profile you. Not great reporting.

Gary Rosenzweig

Doug: This is a simply comparison, not a detailed diagnostic test. To do that I would probably need to do different speeds, texts, people, etc. This is just to make people aware of these options. They are both free (as in not costing any additional money). Everything has secondary costs -- you need to buy a Mac, or you need to be a part of Google's ecosystem.

John Joyce

Thanks, Gary: You are one of the few commenters who takes Mac Dictation seriously. It has improved significantly over the years, in my opinion. I have a suspicion that its reliability is enhanced by speaking in phrases.

Of course, if your income depends on voice recognition, then Nuance's Dragon still is king — but you need a fast Windows machine.

Bruce

Gary, thanks for the comparison. I'm still able to use Dragon Dictate with Mojave but that is hit or miss for some people. Dictate seems to be the next-best thing. I use dictation mainly to transcribe audio interviews. You can do that by going into the accessibility preferences>dictation and disabling "mute audio output while dictating." When you do that you can listen to a file and parrot what you hear through headphones.

Dan

Thank you, now all I have to do is get a mic. I have headphones with a built in mic but the mac mic doesn't provide audio. I do have an adapter and last headphones had two 3.5 jacks to plug into it mic and audio. But the current headphones have only 1 jack.

John Carter

Keep in mind that both Apple and Google capture every word you use with voice dictation. This is so they can analyze what you are saying and use AI to improve on converting voice to text. Apple presumably will never release any of what you say. Not so sure that Google won't be sharing what you say. For privacy reasons, I prefer Apple dictation and learn to enunciate and speak slowly. That said, someone I know with a British accent has better luck with Siri than I do with my southwest drawl.

Comments Closed.

Comparing macOS Dictation With Google Voice Typing

Comments: 6 Responses to “Comparing macOS Dictation With Google Voice Typing”

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