# Dictation

Speak a message to an agent instead of typing it. Waycar turns your speech into text on your device, on iOS 26 and later.

Dictation lets you speak a message to an agent instead of typing it. Speech is turned into text on your iPhone or iPad by the system's own speech model, so your audio never leaves the device, and nothing reaches your Host until the message is sent. Dictation needs iOS 26 or later.

## Dictate into the Composer

1. Open the [Composer](https://waycar.dev/help/composer) and tap the microphone next to **Add** and **More**.
2. Speak. A dotted waveform follows your voice. Your words don't appear while you talk, so you can speak naturally.
3. Tap stop, and everything you said lands at the cursor at once. Or tap **Send** to stop and send in one tap, even with nothing typed.

You can keep typing while you dictate. The spoken text lands wherever the cursor is when you stop.

## Dictate and send without the Composer

The microphone on the right of the [Toolbar](https://waycar.dev/help/toolbar) dictates straight to the agent:

1. Tap the microphone. A spinner shows while it gets ready; tap it to cancel.
2. When the red stop button appears, speak.
3. Tap stop. What you said is sent to the agent as if you typed it and pressed Enter. Your Composer draft isn't touched.

Saying nothing sends nothing. Leaving the agent, opening a sheet, or switching away from Waycar drops what you said without sending it. Shells don't have the Dictate to Agent button.

## When does it go to the draft instead?

- When the agent is Blocked, or iOS interrupts the microphone, what you said goes into the Composer draft so you can check it before sending.
- If the send fails, the Composer opens so you can retry it or edit it.

## Dictation in Chat Mode

The chat's message field has a microphone too. While it hears you, the message field turns into a red waveform. Tap it to stop, and your words land in the field.

## Troubleshooting

- **"Downloading speech model…"**: the first time you dictate in a language, iOS downloads its speech model. Wait for it to finish.
- **"Dictation needs microphone access. Turn it on in Settings."**: tap **Open Settings** and allow the microphone for Waycar.
- **"This device has no on-device speech model for…"**: your language isn't available for on-device speech on this device.
- **"Dictation stopped unexpectedly. Try again."**: tap the microphone again.

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Waycar Help › Start and talk to agents: https://waycar.dev/help/dictation