Potok transcribes Russian speech; this site has been translated into English for convenience.
To dictate text instead of a voice message in Telegram on a computer, place the cursor in the message input field and use Potok (potok.now): 3 actions, hold the hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default), dictate and release, and the text is ready to send. Transcription through the Telegram API is something else: it converts voice messages already received into text.
Telegram on a computer has versions for Windows and macOS and a web version, and in them the text field works as usual. A voice message can be replaced with dictated text if you do not want to send your voice. This is part of the general collection on how to turn voice into text, see the section on voice messages and their transcription.
How to dictate text instead of a voice message in Telegram
You can replace a voice message with text in Telegram on a computer like this:
- Open a chat in Telegram on a computer (Windows, macOS or in the browser) and place the cursor in the message input field.
- Allow Potok access to the microphone in the system: without this permission dictation will not start.
- Hold Potok's hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default) and dictate the message.
- Release the hotkey: the text appears in the input field, where the cursor was; Potok places punctuation and capital letters by itself and writes numbers as digits.
- Check the text and press “Send” as an ordinary text message: Telegram sends it exactly as text, with no sound recording.
- If the Ctrl+Space hotkey is taken by another program on the computer, you can change it in Potok's settings to any key, combination or side mouse button.
| What is available | |
|---|---|
| Text insertion | yes |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Web |
| Potok | hold the key, speak, release: the text lands in the field under the cursor |
A long message is faster to dictate than to type
A long voice message is inconvenient for the recipient to listen to in a crowded place, while text can simply be read. With Potok dictation goes at about 900 characters per minute against about 200 when typing, so dictating a long message is faster than typing it by hand. Potok's personal dictionary, terms and names, is available in the Pro plan: this is useful if the same names of correspondents or professional words often appear in your messages. Telegram can transcribe other people's voice messages into text through the API; this is for incoming messages, not for what you send yourself. Potok is suitable for dictating your own message on a computer. If you need the opposite, to turn a voice message already received into text, that is a separate topic: transcription of voice messages in Telegram.
Who Potok will not help here
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia; it does not work without the internet. It has no apps for Android and iPhone: if Telegram is open only on a phone, you cannot dictate a message through Potok; you need a computer with Windows, macOS or Linux. Potok has no voice commands, so emoji, formatting, mentions and stickers in Telegram are still added by hand after the text is already inserted.
Frequently asked questions
Transcription through the Telegram API converts voice messages already received into text. Dictating your own message as text is a different task: on a computer Potok solves it by inserting text into the message field where the cursor is.
Not through Potok: it is an app for a computer (Windows, macOS, Linux) and has no versions for Android and iPhone. On iPhone there is a built-in dictation with Russian.
Built-in system tools (Win+H in Windows, Dictation in macOS, Voice Typing in Google Docs, Gboard on Android), voice browser extensions, and specialized desktop and web services (Potok and similar) that work on top of any app via a hotkey.
Dictation pays off most for long texts written in one go, such as email drafts, notes, messenger replies and lecture notes, and also when your hands are busy or tired (for example, with RSI). For short precise edits (one-word commands, code) typing is often faster.
By a model estimate, the average dictation speed with Potok is about 900 characters per minute versus about 200 characters per minute with ordinary typing, so speech is noticeably faster than the keyboard.
Voice input turns speech into text on the fly: the user speaks, the program transcribes the sound with speech recognition technology (ASR) and inserts the resulting text into the active field, such as email, a messenger or a document. In Potok this works through a hotkey: hold it, speak, release, and the text is inserted.
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.
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: telegram.org · core.telegram.org