Like many other OEMs, Samsung offers some proprietary services alongside Google Services that come on all Android devices. This includes text-to-speech tools and, the polar opposite, speech-to-text dictation services. Many users prefer dictating instead of typing so the problem we’ll try and tackle today can be quite serious if that’s your preference, as well. Namely, it seems that speech-to-text dictation or Voice typing is not working on some Samsung devices.
If you have the same or similar problem, check the solutions we propose below.
Table of contents:
- Check system settings
- Reset Samsung and Google speech services
- Update the firmware
- Reset app preferences
Why does voice-to-text is not working on my Samsung?
There are a few reasons why voice-to-text might not work on your Samsung. Here are the usual suspects and how to fix them:
- Samsung TTS works only on Samsung Keyboard and Google Speech Services works only with Gboard.
- Both Samsung and Google voice-to-text services are enabled. Disable one, preferably the Samsung Voice input.
- There’s a system bug that caused issues with dictation and you can usually fix it by updating your firmware and allowing permissions.
- The app data is corrupted. Reset the app by clearing local data from Samsung Voice Input.
1. Check system settings
Firstly, we recommend inspecting Samsung voice input settings and ensuring that everything is enabled. One thing that a few users recommended is disabling either Google Voice Typing or Samsung Voice Input. It seems that, if both are enabled, neither will work as intended.
Now, it depends on what keyboard you prefer, Samsung Keyboard or Google Gboard. Whatever you choose, make sure that the voice typing/dictation option for the other one is disabled and give it another try. My personal preference is Google Voice Typing, although you might favor Samsung instead.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Open the Settings app.
- Select General Management.
- Open the Keyboard list and default.
- Toggle off Samsung voice input and stick to Google Voice Typing or disable Google Voice Typing (and Voice Typing Legacy) if you use Samsung Keyboard and stick to Samsung voice input.
- Also, whatever you choose, tap on either Google Voice Typing or Samsung voice input and select the language. If you use offline voice typing, make sure that the Default language is downloaded.
If you have issues with one, just switch to another. Users report that Google Voice Typing works (particularly on Galaxy S21) while proprietary voice-to-text is not working on Samsung. Give it a try and see for yourself.
2. Reset Google speech services
If you decided on Google Voice Typing but the issue persists, we recommend resetting Speech Services by Google. This tool not only allows TTS (text-to-speech) but also impacts how speech-to-text works. Google made some changes to the service in December 2021. so it’s recommended to keep it up to date. But, before that, you should reset it by either clearing local data or uninstalling updates from the service.
Here’s how to reset Speech Services by Google and fix speech-to-text issues on your Samsung smartphone or tablet:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Apps.
- Look for Speech services.
- Open Speech Services by Google and then open Storage.
- Clear Data.
- Or, while on the App Info screen, tap on the 3-dots menu and uninstall updates. The app should auto-update from Play Store.
The same goes for Samsung Voice input but, to locate this service, you need to toggle on the Show system apps option. Clearing data from the service will reset it and, hopefully, fix the issues with the Voice-to-text engine and dictation.
3. Update the firmware
The problem with voice-to-text (dictation) on Samsung devices was quite predominant on OneUI 3.1 but, as more and more devices get the OneUI 4 (Android 12) update, there are reports that Samsung voice input works better. Although, it’s still not the best with languages that are not English or Korean.
Although Android pushes updates automatically, you can check for available updates and install them from system settings. Here’s how to check for updates manually:
- Open Settings.
- Select Software update.
- Tap Download and install.
- Install available updates.
If you start seeing some major bugs and problems, consider resetting your device to factory settings. A fresh start is always a way to go whenever you upgrade to a brand-new Android system version and notice some eye-jarring bugs.
4. Reset app preferences
Finally, if none of the previous steps worked, we suggest resetting app preferences. It worked for some users, although we can’t say with certainty that it will work for everyone. You can reset app preferences on your Samsung device by following these instructions:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Apps.
- Tap on the 3-dots menu and select Reset app preferences.
- Confirm and check for improvements.
If text-to-speech is not working on your Samsung smartphone after all these steps, consider reporting the problem to Samsung via the Members app. We hope that there’s no need for that and that you’re able to dictate messages and use voice typing without issues. But, it’s a good way to do something proactively in hope that Samsung will listen.
Thank you for reading and make sure to tell us if the instructions we provided here helped you solve the problem. Do you have a better solution? Share it with us in the comments section below.
Editor’s note: This article was initially published in January 2022. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.
