Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
For the web version of Google Keep, the help describes no separate voice text input feature. You can dictate a note there with the Potok app (potok.now), which recognizes about 900 characters per minute versus about 200 when typing. On Android and iPhone/iPad, Keep has its own voice recording: Create → Recording → Speak.
Do you make short notes and to-do lists in Google Keep all day? Let us work out how much time dictation saves compared with typing on a keyboard. A similar estimate works for other note services too, for example Evernote or Microsoft OneNote (in Russian).
| Task | Characters | Typing (200 chars/min) | Voice (900 chars/min) |
|---|---|---|---|
| chat reply | 300 | 2 min | 0.5 min |
| 1500 | 8 min | 1.7 min | |
| post or meeting minutes | 4000 | 20 min | 4.4 min |
| article | 10000 | 50 min | 11.1 min |
Where these minutes come from
The estimate is built on the difference in speed: by voice Potok recognizes about 900 characters per minute, while ordinary typing on a keyboard is about 200. A typical note in Keep is a short shopping list, an item in the day's plan or a thought of a couple of sentences, usually from 100 to 300 characters.
Typing such a note takes about a minute, and you can dictate it in 15-20 seconds, including a pause to release the hotkey. The difference on one note is small, but over a dozen notes a day it turns into a noticeable saving of minutes that would otherwise go on typing text letter by letter.
Where the benefit is most noticeable
- A shopping list or a list of things for the day that you dictate whole in one go, rather than typing one item at a time and switching between lines and the keyboard.
- A note on the move, between meetings or on the way, when it is awkward to type with two hands or there is simply no time to sit down at a keyboard and concentrate on typing.
- An idea or thought that it is important to capture at once, before it is lost and forgotten behind the next task.
- A long list of tasks for the working day: typing each item separately with a line break is slower than dictating the whole list in a row, and Potok will place the punctuation between items itself.
- A note dictated right during a call or a meeting, when your hands are busy and you need to capture what was said at once, without being distracted by switching windows.
Where the estimate does not hold
On Android and iPhone/iPad, Google Keep already has its own voice recording: the Recording and Speak buttons in a note, and no separate app is needed for that. The time estimate through Potok is most useful for the web version of Keep on a computer, where the help describes no such feature.
Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. It has no offline mode and no voice commands, and 2500 words per week are free on one device. For someone who makes dozens of notes a day in Keep, this limit may not be enough.
Frequently asked questions
The help describes no separate voice text input feature for the web version of Google Keep. There is only voice recording in the Android and iPhone/iPad apps: in a note, Create, then Recording and Speak.
Voice input in Google Keep. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input in Google Keep you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input in Google Keep. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. Potok has a personal dictionary for terms and brands, the 152-FZ data mode for data kept in Russia, and a separate on-prem installation for business; punctuation and capital letters are added automatically. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input in Google Keep you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input in Google Keep. Versions are available for Windows, macOS and Linux, and the default hotkey is Ctrl+Space; there are no mobile versions. Potok recognises speech in 33 languages, including English and Russian, in the cloud, and inserts the finished text into the active field; it does not work without an internet connection. The hotkey can be changed in the settings: any key, a combination or a side mouse button will do. Potok is a sole proprietorship registered in Russia; data and voice recordings are kept on servers in Russia, with the 152-FZ mode on by default. For Voice input in Google Keep you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input in Google Keep. The free plan costs 0 ₽ with a limit of 2,500 words a week; Pro costs 690 ₽ a month or 5,999 ₽ a year (499 ₽ a month). Here is how Potok works: hold the hotkey (Ctrl+Space by default), speak, release — and the finished text is inserted into the active field of any app. Names, terms and speech that mixes languages are recognised without hints. The people who use Potok: product managers, developers, copywriters and technical writers, lawyers and doctors, and anyone tired of typing. For Voice input in Google Keep you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
If you want to compare for yourself
Take one of your own tasks and dictate it in Potok. The first 14 days have no limits and need no card. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokA voice message from a messenger or a call recording can be forwarded to the bot @potok_now_bot, and it sends back the text. The bot is part of the same subscription as the Potok app.
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
| 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 |
Primary sources: keep.google.com · support.google.com · support.google.com