Write it down
Talk instead of type
The microphone in the capture bar turns speech into a thing.
Why you'd care
Some of the best captures happen when your hands are busy: driving, cooking, walking, holding a child. Voice is the only input that works then, and a rough transcription you can find later is worth far more than a perfect note you never made.
The 60-second version
Tap the microphone in the capture bar, speak, and stop. The text lands as a thing you can edit.
Going further
One thought per recording. Dictation produces a single thing. If you talk for a minute you get one long thing, which is usually not what you wanted. For that, use Ramble, which splits what you said into separate things.
Say the date out loud. "Call the dentist Thursday at three" is recognised as a reminder after transcription, exactly as if you had typed it. See dates NewTwos finds for you.
Accuracy is fine for retrieval. Transcription will get names and jargon wrong. It rarely matters, because search is forgiving and you only need enough to recognise the thought.
On the Watch it is the main input. The Watch app is built around speaking a thing and putting your arm back down.
Tips
- Speak in short sentences. Transcription punctuates better and search matches better.
- If dictation is your main input, put Quick Capture on your lock screen so you never open the app first.
If it's not working
The microphone does nothing. Microphone permission is denied at the operating system level. An app setting cannot override that, so it has to be granted in system settings.
The text is badly wrong. Check the dictation language matches what you are speaking, which is a system setting rather than a NewTwos one.
Related
- Ramble, for talking for longer
- Quick Capture, for capturing without opening the app