# Use Canto for dictation and voice notes

> Speak instead of typing — dictate into chat and notes fields on every platform, or record short voice notes that become searchable transcripts.

Updated: 2026-08-16 · Canonical: https://usecanto.com/help/recording/dictation/

Canto covers speaking-instead-of-typing in two ways. Dictation turns a short spoken clip into text inside a field — a chat question or your notes — on iOS, Android, and the web. Voice notes are ordinary recordings: talk to yourself for thirty seconds and you get a transcribed, searchable item in your library.

## How does dictation work?

Wherever you'd type at Canto's AI — the ask bar on the home screen, chat on a recording — and in the notes editor, there's a microphone control for voice input (the home screen labels it **Dictate**):

1. Tap the microphone in the input field.
2. Speak your question or note.
3. Stop, and the clip shows "Transcribing…" for a moment before the text lands in the field.
4. Edit if needed, then send or keep writing.

Dictation is for short clips — a sentence or a few. It fills the field and is then discarded; nothing is saved to your library and no recording is created. Dictated speech is language-detected like everything else, so dictate in whatever language you speak.

## How do I keep voice notes in Canto?

Record them as normal recordings. Tap the record button (or a [widget](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/ios-widgets-live-activity/) — that's the fastest capture path), say what's on your mind, tap **End** or **Stop**. A short recording goes through the same pipeline as a meeting: transcript, auto title, and notes when there's enough content.

Voice notes shine later, not at capture time: they're in your library alongside meetings, so semantic search finds "that idea about onboarding I had in the car", and [asking across recordings](https://usecanto.com/help/ai/ask-across-recordings/) folds your notes-to-self into answers.

## Dictation or a voice note — which one?

| You want | Use |
| --- | --- |
| Ask the AI something by voice | Dictation in the ask bar or chat |
| Add a spoken line to a recording's notes | Dictation in the notes editor |
| Keep the audio and transcript of a thought | A regular recording |
| Capture a memo hands-free from the home screen | Widget → regular recording |

The rule of thumb: dictation produces text in a box; a recording produces an item you can search, share, and chat about.

## FAQ

### Do voice notes count against my free minutes?

Yes — voice notes are regular recordings, so their transcription counts toward the free plan's 100 min / mo monthly allowance, and dictation clips are metered the same way based on their length. At a few minutes each, that's still a lot of voice notes.

### Can I dictate a whole document?

Dictation is built for short inputs. For anything past a few sentences, record it — you get a transcript you can copy out, plus the audio. See [Copy content out of Canto](https://usecanto.com/help/export/copy-content/)

Related articles:

- [Start, pause, and resume a recording](https://usecanto.com/help/recording/start-pause-stop/)
- [Chat with a recording](https://usecanto.com/help/ai/chat-with-a-recording/)
- [How does search work in Canto?](https://usecanto.com/help/ai/search/)