How to disable voice typing on WhatsApp

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Voice dictation is a feature that has been available on Android phones for some time now. This is a function that can be very useful for users who are looking for or need better accessibility in the operating system, since they will be able to do many actions with voice commands. Although there are users who do not need this feature and want to be able to disable it.

Above all, they seek to deactivate voice dictation in WhatsApp for Android. Although it is something that is used a lot, for other users it is somewhat annoying when they inadvertently activate this function, for this reason, they want to deactivate it on their phones and thus not be present in applications such as WhatsApp on the mobile.

If you want to disable voice dictation in WhatsApp for Android, it is good to know that it is something that It does not depend on the messaging application. In other words, this function must be deactivated first for the phone, so that it will not work in the apps that we have installed. So the process is not something that has to be done in WhatsApp. The messaging app does not have a native option that allows us to do this. Luckily, doing this is not complicated, below we are going to show you the steps that you have to follow to be able to deactivate this voice dictation in WhatsApp and in Android in general.

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Voice dictation on Android

To disable voice dictation in WhatsApp, we will have to do this first on the phone. This is a feature that was initially introduced through its own app, but is now integrated into the Google app on Android. Despite what many may think, it is not available through the Google keyboard (Gboard). Since it is not a functionality of this keyboard, but rather it is a function that is available in all the applications that we have installed and that allow text entry on the phone.

So that It is something that will work both in WhatsApp and Telegram, the browser that we use on the mobile or the notes application, for example. Any Android application where you can enter text will have this standard voice dictation, which can be used through the microphone icon that appears on Gboard. It is therefore one of the most important accessibility features in the operating system, as you can imagine.

Turn off voice dictation

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As we just mentioned, this is something that will depend on google app. Therefore, if we want to deactivate voice dictation, we will have to go to said application on the phone. Since what we are going to have to do is that it does not have access to the microphone, that is, we have to remove said permission from the app, so that this function stops working on our smartphone or tablet. The steps we have to follow for this are the following:

  1. First of all you have to open the settings of your Android phone.
  2. Go to the Applications section.
  3. Look for the Google application in said list of installed apps.
  4. Enter the app.
  5. Go to the Permissions section.
  6. Look for the Microphone permission and tap on it.
  7. Uncheck this option to remove this permission.

When we do this, Google will show us a notice on the phone screen. In this notice they inform us that some functions will stop working correctly due to this action that we are taking now. Since we are sure of what we want to do in this case and we do not want voice dictation to continue to be active on our phone, we are going to confirm this action and ignore this warning that is shown on the screen. With these steps we have already deactivated voice dictation on Android, also for WhatsApp, therefore. You do not have to do anything else, not even in WhatsApp, so that this function is no longer available in the app.

What does it mean to disable voice dictation on Android?

The fact that Google shows a warning is normal, since deactivating this function on Android is something that is going to have a series of implications, as you can imagine. When we do this, our phone will no longer allow us to dictate an audio message that automatically turns into text. So it is something that can prevent us from comfortable use in some cases, a consequence that many users may not be aware of.

Also, doing this also stops have access to the Google Assistant. This assistant, like other smart assistants on the market, works solely through voice commands. If we disable microphone access for the Google app to disable voice dictation, we are also disabling microphone access for all Google apps on the device.

However, the rest of the applications that we have installed and that are not from Google they will continue to have access to the microphone if we grant them the necessary permissions when we install them on the phone. Although these apps will not have access to voice dictation on our phone either, thanks to Google. Since when we have deactivated it through Google, the functionality is no longer available for all the applications that are on our Android phone. In other words, we have also deactivated it for WhatsApp, as initially sought in this case. So you can no longer use this function in the phone in general or in some apps in particular.

activate it again

If we change our minds in the future, we can always re-enable this voice dictation on our Android phone. Many may have realized that it is a useful function or in their case they need it to make good use of their devices. In any case, just as we have deactivated this option, it can be activated again. In addition, the steps that we have to follow in this case are going to be the same that we have followed before. That is, this is what we have to do on our phone or tablet:

  1. First of all you have to open the settings of your Android phone.
  2. Go to the Applications section.
  3. Look for the Google application in said list of installed apps.
  4. Enter the app.
  5. Go to the Permissions section.
  6. Look for the Microphone permission and tap on it.
  7. Now activate this permission again, so that Google has access again.

We will be asked in any case to confirm the action, but in this way we have made voice dictation works again on Android. As we are doing it through Google, this function will be available again in the rest of the applications that we have on our mobile. Also in WhatsApp it will work again, as well as in other apps where you have or can enter text. You just have to use the microphone icon that appears on the Gboard keyboard to start using it again.

Is it worth turning off voice typing?

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The reality is that it is something that for many users is not worth it. There may be times when you find it annoying if you inadvertently turn it on, but voice dictation is a hugely useful feature of the operating system. In addition to being an essential tool for millions of users with an Android device, it makes the use of these devices accessible and simpler for them. So for many it is not a function worth deactivating.

As we have said, for some users it is annoying to have that Google microphone icon on the keyboard, which is what activates this function. Since they accidentally press on it from time to time. In these situations, the only available solution, without having to deactivate access to the microphone, is to make use of a keyboard that is not native to Google. That is, you are going to have to look for an alternative keyboard to Gboard for your Android phone.

Most phones that are released on Android come with Gboard installed as standard, although it is something that depends on the brand of the phone. So on the keyboard we can see that microphone icon at the top. If you don't want to have this icon, one option is to switch to an alternative keyboard. You can use many alternative keyboards as there is a huge selection available on the Google Play Store today. The brand of the phone usually has its own keyboard, as is usually the case with Samsung, so that one can be used, for example. Also alternative keyboards like SwiftKey are another option to consider in this case. In none of them are you going to find this microphone icon that activates voice dictation on Android.