Potok turns speech into text in 33 languages, including English and Russian.
Voice input errors on Apple devices are most often failures of the system dictation in iOS and macOS: Siri does not respond on Apple Watch, dictation cuts off on a long phrase or works differently in CarPlay and on iPad. The cause is usually in the settings or hardware, not in one broken function. Switching the input method or using a third-party program helps, for example Potok (potok.now), with a response time of about 0.4 seconds.
Apple dictation is not one thing: on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and in CarPlay it is built a little differently, and what works on one device may stay silent or cut off on another. Because of this it is hard to tell where to fix it: in the settings, in the program itself, or wait for a system update. Below are guides to specific situations and what to do about them.
Where the problems in this topic come from
Part of the failures at Apple come from the fact that dictation is not one function but several separate implementations for different devices. System dictation in iOS and macOS supports Russian, but it turns on and works in each app separately: where an app does not give full access to the input field, recognition cuts off or does not start at all. On Apple Watch and in CarPlay there is also the limit of the interface itself: less screen, shorter sessions, a different way of confirming the text.
The second group of causes is the difference in hardware and system version. On older Intel Macs the same tasks are computed more slowly than on Apple Silicon, and this is especially noticeable with third-party programs such as Voisty or GigaType, which recognize right on the device instead of sending the sound to the cloud.
The third cause is confusion between Apple's system dictation and third-party voice input programs: they are installed separately, work differently and do not replace each other automatically, even if the platform is the same.
- Voice input through CarPlay behaves differently from direct dictation on iPhone
- Dictation and Siri do not respond on Apple Watch
- Dictation runs noticeably slower on old Intel Macs than on Apple Silicon
- iPhone dictation works in the wrong language
- Dictation not working in a specific app on iPhone
All articles in this section, in Russian (41): potok.now/oshibki/apple
When the problem is not the program
If dictation does not respond in any app, the cause is usually not a specific program but the system. Check microphone access in the privacy settings: without permission neither Apple's built-in dictation nor a third-party program gets the sound. The Russian language is chosen there separately from the interface language. Potok is a cloud service: recognition runs on servers in Russia, and it does not work without the internet. If the cause is an unstable network, switching between voice input programs will not solve it.
Guides to individual errors
- Dictation and Siri do not respond on Apple Watch: next to it, system dictation with Russian works on iPhone.
- Dictation on iPad differs from Mac (in Russian): Potok has no mobile app, only a desktop one for Mac.
- Mac dictation cuts off on a long phrase (in Russian): Diktuy and GigaType are also available for macOS as a replacement.
- Dictation runs slower on an old Intel Mac: Voisty and GigaType recognize right on the device, loading the processor.
- Voice input in CarPlay differs from iPhone: Talkpad and Lispr are made for Windows and macOS, not for CarPlay.
Frequently asked questions
Built-in macOS dictation is free and supports Russian, but third-party programs have their own advantages: GigaType recognizes offline through the GigaAM neural network trained for Russian, and Diktuy gives up to 30 minutes of dictation per month for free and paid plans without that limit.
Voice input errors. 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 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input errors. 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 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input errors. 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 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
Voice input errors. 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 you dictate into the same field where you normally type, so there is no need to switch between apps.
How to start
Potok is available for Windows, macOS and Linux. For two weeks everything is open for free, after that 2500 words per week without paying. Potok is a cloud service, so it does not work without the internet.
Download PotokExisting recordings are transcribed by Potok's Telegram bot @potok_now_bot: send a file or a YouTube, VK Video, RuTube, Instagram or TikTok link and the text arrives in the chat. The Potok subscription removes the limit in the bot too.
Related software: terms compared
| Service | Platforms | Free | Price | Payment from Russia | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free: 2500 words per week; full access for the first 14 days, no card needed | Pro 690 ₽/mo, 499 ₽/mo when paid yearly | Russian bank cards, rubles | cloud, servers in Russia; internet required |
| SpeakFlow | Windows, Web | 30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever | 690 ₽/mo (Personal (unlimited)) | rubles directly | cloud (the data center country is not disclosed on the website) (not confirmed) |
| Diktuy | Windows, macOS | 30 minutes of dictation per month, free forever | 239 ₽/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) |
| Talkpad | macOS, Windows, Android | 2500 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) |
| Voisty | Windows, macOS | 5 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) |
| WhispeRu | Windows | 7-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) |
| GigaType | Windows, macOS | free 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 plans | device (offline, Sber's GigaAM neural network) |
| Molvi | Windows, macOS | free 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 fixed | device (offline; best quality on an NVIDIA GPU, otherwise a fast model on the CPU) |
Built-in dictation and Potok
| Tool | Where it works | Russian language | Where speech is recognized |
|---|---|---|---|
| macOS Dictation | macOS | yes | on the device or on Apple servers |
| Potok | Windows, macOS, Linux | primary language | cloud, servers in Russia, does not work offline |
Primary sources: speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · speakflow.ru · blog.speakflow.ru