Errors and fixes

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard: a breakdown

Mark Vesyoly · founder of Potok · ~9 min

Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.

Voice input errors on Samsung are mostly tied to the Samsung Keyboard or the Galaxy Wearable app, not to Android in general. There are 3 common cases: recognition does not start for your native language, it disappears after a keyboard update, or the microphone button on Galaxy Watch does not respond because the connection to the phone is lost. Potok (potok.now) does not fit these cases: it has no Android app.

For Samsung owners, voice input usually means the Samsung Keyboard, not Gboard, and the errors here are their own: recognition does not turn on for the native language, it disappears after a firmware update, or the microphone button on Galaxy Watch does not respond to a press. Three cases come up more often than the rest.

Where the problems in this topic come from

The first common cause is the native language setting. In the Samsung keyboard you can set several input languages, and one of them is marked as the main one; if voice input is set up only for the main language and you try to dictate in another, recognition may simply not start, although the keyboard types normally.

The second cause is updates. After an update of the Samsung keyboard or of the whole phone firmware, voice input settings are sometimes reset together with the microphone permission, and a feature that worked yesterday stops responding for no visible reason. Check this first, before looking for a more complicated breakdown.

The third cause is the connection with Galaxy Watch. Voice input on the watch works only through the connection to the smartphone: if Bluetooth is broken or the Galaxy Wearable app is not synchronized, the microphone button on the watch does not respond to a press, although the watch itself looks connected.

The fourth cause is confusion between keyboards: if besides the Samsung Keyboard the phone also has Gboard installed, voice input may start in a keyboard other than the one you expect and look broken, although in fact a different program is active.

All articles in this section, in Russian (3): potok.now/oshibki/samsung

When the program is not the problem

Sometimes the cause is not the keyboard but the input field itself: into some protected fields, such as passwords and certain banking forms, voice text is not inserted by any program, and this is a limit of the field, not a recognition failure. Potok (potok.now) is not an option for Samsung devices either: it has no Android app, only for a computer (Windows, macOS, Linux). Potok is a cloud service, recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet; for a smartphone you need the system voice input or a third-party Android program such as Talkpad.

Breakdowns of individual errors

Frequently asked questions

Why does Samsung voice input work in one language and not in another?

In the Samsung keyboard you can set several input languages, but one of them is treated as the main one for speech recognition. If you try to dictate in a second, non-main language, the feature may not start at all, although the keyboard itself types in that language without problems.

Do I need to reinstall Galaxy Wearable if the microphone button on the watch does not respond?

First check the simpler things about the connection: whether Bluetooth is on, whether the watch is connected to the phone and whether the Galaxy Wearable app has been closed in the background. Reinstalling helps only if these three are fine and the button still does not respond.

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard: what to do and what to check?

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard. 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 errors on the Samsung keyboard you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard: how Potok differs from built-in dictation?

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard. 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 errors on the Samsung keyboard you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard: does recognition work without an internet connection?

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard. 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 errors on the Samsung keyboard you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard: how much it costs and what the free plan includes?

Voice input errors on the Samsung keyboard. 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 errors on the Samsung keyboard you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.

Try it on your own texts

Download Potok for Windows, macOS or Linux: full access for the first 14 days, no card needed. After that, 2500 words per week for free or Pro for 690 ₽ per month. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.

Download Potok

A 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.

Related software: terms compared

Terms are taken from the services' official websites.
ServicePlatformsFreePricePayment from RussiaWhere speech is recognized
PotokWindows, macOS, LinuxFree: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card neededPro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearlyRussian bank cards, rublescloud, servers in Russia; internet required
SpeakFlowWindows, Web30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever690 ₽/mo (Personal (unlimited))rubles directlycloud (the data center country is not disclosed on the website) (not confirmed)
DiktuyWindows, macOS30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever239 ₽/mo (Profi (monthly equivalent when billed yearly)); 2870 ₽/yr (Profi (year, billed in full)); 479 ₽/mo (Max (monthly equivalent when billed yearly))rubles directly (not confirmed)cloud (the data center country is not disclosed on the website) (not confirmed)
TalkpadmacOS, Windows, Android2500 words/week on desktop, 1500 words/week on mobile, free forever; plus a 14-day Pro trial$6/mo (Pro (billed yearly, $72/yr)); $8/mo (Pro (monthly billing))unknown (not confirmed)cloud (the legal entity is registered in Australia; the website is hosted on Cloudflare; the exact location of the ASR servers is not disclosed in the privacy policy) (not confirmed)
VoistyWindows, macOS5 minutes of transcription (to judge the quality)$6.7/mo (Pro); $67/yr (Pro (year)); $99/one-time (Lifetime)Visa/Mastercard/Amex cards, PayPal; whether Russian cards are accepted is not stated (not confirmed)device (offline, local models such as Whisper Large V3 Turbo / NVIDIA Parakeet)
WhispeRuWindows7-day free trial (no card)290 ₽/mo (monthly license); 1990 ₽/yr (yearly license); 4990 ₽/one-time (lifetime license)rubles directly (payment via YooKassa)device (offline)
GigaTypeWindows, macOSfree with no limits: open source under the MIT license (Copyright (c) 2026 Disrupt Builders), all features are available without payment—not needed: there are no paid plansdevice (offline, Sber's GigaAM neural network)
MolviWindows, macOSfree forever, no accounts and no payment—not needed: the product is free; voluntary donations are accepted via Telegram Tribute or by card on the website, amounts are not fixeddevice (offline; best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, otherwise a fast model on the CPU)

Built-in dictation and Potok

Based on Microsoft and Apple help pages.
ToolWhere it worksRussian languageWhere speech is recognized
PotokWindows, macOS, Linuxprimary languagecloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline
Windows voice typing (Win+H)Windows 10 and 11Windows 11 onlyMicrosoft cloud, does not work offline
macOS DictationmacOSyeson the device or on Apple servers

Primary sources: speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · blog.speakflow.ru

Mark Vesyoly — founder of Potok. Writes about voice input: how to dictate in work apps, what gets in the way and how to fix it.
© Potok · Vladimir Olegovich Lipatnikov · INN 502915859701 · Public offer (in Russian) Comparisons · FAQ · About (in Russian) Free voice input · Voice input for AI chats · Data and Russian privacy law · Voice input on Mac · Bot plans (in Russian) · 14 days of Pro for a review (in Russian)