Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
Voice input errors on Apple devices are most often failures of the system dictation in iOS and macOS: Siri does not respond on Apple Watch, dictation cuts off on a long phrase or works differently in CarPlay and on iPad. The cause is usually in the settings or hardware, not in one broken function. Switching the input method or using a third-party program helps, for example Potok (potok.now), with a response time of about 0.4 seconds.
Apple dictation is not one thing: on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and in CarPlay it is built a little differently, and what works on one device may stay silent or cut off on another. Because of this it is hard to tell where to fix it: in the settings, in the program itself, or wait for a system update. Below are guides to specific situations and what to do about them.
Where the problems in this topic come from
Part of the failures at Apple come from the fact that dictation is not one function but several separate implementations for different devices. System dictation in iOS and macOS supports Russian, but it turns on and works in each app separately: where an app does not give full access to the input field, recognition cuts off or does not start at all. On Apple Watch and in CarPlay there is also the limit of the interface itself: less screen, shorter sessions, a different way of confirming the text.
The second group of causes is the difference in hardware and system version. On older Intel Macs the same tasks are computed more slowly than on Apple Silicon, and this is especially noticeable with third-party programs such as Voisty or GigaType, which recognize right on the device instead of sending the sound to the cloud.
The third cause is confusion between Apple's system dictation and third-party voice input programs: they are installed separately, work differently and do not replace each other automatically, even if the platform is the same.
- Voice input through CarPlay behaves differently from direct dictation on iPhone
- Dictation and Siri do not respond on Apple Watch
- Dictation runs noticeably slower on old Intel Macs than on Apple Silicon
- iPhone dictation works in the wrong language
- Dictation not working in a specific app on iPhone
All articles in this section (41): potok.now/oshibki/apple
When the problem is not the program
If dictation does not respond in any app, the cause is usually not a specific program but the system. Check microphone access in the privacy settings: without permission neither Apple's built-in dictation nor a third-party program gets the sound. The Russian language is chosen there separately from the interface language. Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. If the cause is an unstable network, switching between voice input programs will not solve it.
Guides to individual errors
- Dictation and Siri do not respond on Apple Watch: next to it, system dictation with Russian works on iPhone.
- Dictation on iPad differs from Mac: Potok has no mobile app, only a desktop one for Mac.
- Mac dictation cuts off on a long phrase: Diktuy and GigaType are also available for macOS as a replacement.
- Dictation runs slower on an old Intel Mac: Voisty and GigaType recognize right on the device, loading the processor.
- Voice input in CarPlay differs from iPhone: Talkpad and Lispr are made for Windows and macOS, not for CarPlay.
Frequently asked questions
Built-in macOS dictation is free and supports Russian, but third-party programs have their own advantages: GigaType recognizes offline through the GigaAM neural network trained for Russian, and Diktuy gives up to 30 minutes of dictation per month for free and paid plans without that limit.
No: according to Apple's help, you can dictate text of any length with no time limit. Dictation stops when you press Esc, the microphone key or the Dictation shortcut, and it stops by itself if no speech is heard for 30 seconds.
It depends on the Mac: on a Mac with Apple Silicon, ordinary text dictation (messages, notes, but not the search field) is processed on the device and is not sent to Siri servers. You can see this in System Settings → Keyboard under the “Dictation” item. Whether Apple stores recordings of your dictation is decided by the “Improve Siri & Dictation” switch in Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.
You do not need to turn anything on: according to Apple's help, you can dictate text of any length with no time limit. Dictation stops by itself only if no speech is heard for 30 seconds.
It depends on the Mac. On a Mac with Apple Silicon, ordinary text dictation (messages, notes, but not the search field) is processed on the device; on Intel Macs and in some scenarios the sound goes to Apple's servers, and then you need the internet. You can see exactly in System Settings → Keyboard: under the “Dictation” item it says whether the internet is needed and whether speech is processed on the device.
Yes. macOS system Dictation is also available on Intel Macs; on Intel Macs the sound for recognition goes to Apple's servers, so you need the internet. Potok is an app for Windows, macOS and Linux, and it works on Intel Macs.
How to start
Potok is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. For two weeks everything is open for free, after that 2500 words per week without paying. Potok is a cloud service: speech is recognized on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokExisting recordings are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send a file or a YouTube, VK Video or RuTube link and the text arrives in the chat. The Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot too.
Related software: terms compared
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| SpeakFlow | Windows, Web | 30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever | 690 ₽/mo (Personal (unlimited)) | rubles directly | cloud (the data center country is not disclosed on the website) (not confirmed) |
| Diktuy | Windows, macOS | 30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever | 239 ₽/mo (Profi (monthly equivalent when billed yearly)); 2870 ₽/yr (Profi (year, billed in full)); 479 ₽/mo (Max (monthly equivalent when billed yearly)) | rubles directly (not confirmed) | cloud (the data center country is not disclosed on the website) (not confirmed) |
| Talkpad | macOS, Windows, Android | 2500 words/week on desktop, 1500 words/week on mobile, free forever; plus a 14-day Pro trial | $6/mo (Pro (billed yearly, $72/yr)); $8/mo (Pro (monthly billing)) | unknown (not confirmed) | cloud (the legal entity is registered in Australia; the website is hosted on Cloudflare; the exact location of the ASR servers is not disclosed in the privacy policy) (not confirmed) |
| Voisty | Windows, macOS | 5 minutes of transcription (to judge the quality) | $6.7/mo (Pro); $67/yr (Pro (year)); $99/one-time (Lifetime) | Visa/Mastercard/Amex cards, PayPal; whether Russian cards are accepted is not stated (not confirmed) | device (offline, local models such as Whisper Large V3 Turbo / NVIDIA Parakeet) |
| WhispeRu | Windows | 7-day free trial (no card) | 290 ₽/mo (monthly license); 1990 ₽/yr (yearly license); 4990 ₽/one-time (lifetime license) | rubles directly (payment via YooKassa) | device (offline) |
| GigaType | Windows, macOS | free with no limits: open source under the MIT license (Copyright (c) 2026 Disrupt Builders), all features are available without payment | — | not needed: there are no paid plans | device (offline, Sber's GigaAM neural network) |
| Molvi | Windows, macOS | free forever, no accounts and no payment | — | not needed: the product is free; voluntary donations are accepted via Telegram Tribute or by card on the website, amounts are not fixed | device (offline; best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, otherwise a fast model on the CPU) |
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows voice typing (Win+H) | Windows 10 and 11 | Windows 11 only | Microsoft cloud, does not work offline |
| macOS Dictation | macOS | yes | on the device or on Apple servers |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
Primary sources: speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · blog.speakflow.ru