Lume is a dictation app for iPhone that works as a keyboard. In any app where you type, switch to the Lume keyboard, talk, and it inserts your words cleaned up: punctuated, with the "ums" gone and your mid-sentence corrections applied. Here's how it works, how to set it up, and when Apple's free Dictation is all you need.
Short answer
Can you dictate on iPhone without an app?
Yes. Apple Dictation is built into the iPhone keyboard. Turn on Enable Dictation in Settings > General > Keyboard, then tap the microphone button on the keyboard and talk. It's free and, in many languages, works without an internet connection. Voice keyboards like Lume add cleanup on top, such as removing filler words and rewriting in a chosen style.
How the Lume keyboard works#
Lume is a keyboard extension, the same kind of add-on as any third-party keyboard from the App Store. You add it once, and then it's one tap away in every app.
- Switch to it. While typing, touch and hold the globe or emoji key and choose Lume Voice. That's Apple's standard way to switch keyboards.
- Start Lume. Tap Start Lume on the keyboard. iOS has the Lume app open for a moment to turn on the microphone; swipe back to your app. The mic stays on for a few minutes, so your next messages go straight to talking.
- Talk, then tap the check mark. Tap the mic, say what you want to write, and tap the check mark. Lume inserts the cleaned-up text where your cursor is.
- Pick a style. Casual, Work, Excited or Gen-Z, depending on who you're writing to.
How to set up Lume on iPhone#
- Install Lume Voice: Flow Keyboard AI from the App Store. It needs iOS 17 or later.
- Open the app and sign in. Setup walks you through the rest.
- Turn on the keyboard. Setup opens Lume's page in the Settings app. Tap Keyboards, turn on Lume Voice and Allow Full Access, tap Allow, then go back to Lume. If you'd rather do it by hand, Apple's route is Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard; then turn on Allow Full Access for Lume Voice.
- Allow the microphone when Lume asks.
- Try it. Open Notes, switch to the Lume keyboard and say a sentence.
Why Full Access? Apple's developer documentation explains that custom keyboards run in a sandbox with no network access unless you turn on Allow Full Access for them. Lume turns speech into text in the cloud, so it can't work without it. Apple's own keyboard never needs this switch, which is one honest point in its favor.
How to dictate on iPhone with Lume#
Talking can be a lot quicker than thumb-typing. In a lab study, researchers at Stanford and the University of Washington found that people entered English text about three times faster by speaking than with a phone keyboard (Ruan et al.).
To get the most out of it:
- Say the whole thought. Lume adds punctuation, capitals and paragraph breaks from context, so you don't need to say "comma" or "period". Say "new paragraph" when you want one.
- Correct yourself as you go. If you change your mind mid-sentence, say the right version and keep talking.
- Say lists as lists. Spoken lists come out as numbered or bulleted lists.
You say: "Hey, um, I'm running late, can you grab a table for three, actually four, Jo's coming too."
Lume types: "Hey, I'm running late. Can you grab a table for four? Jo's coming too."
Lume for iPhone
- A voice keyboard for every app: Messages, WhatsApp, Mail, Slack and the rest.
- Clean text, not a raw transcript: filler words removed, corrections applied.
- Four styles: Casual, Work, Excited and Gen-Z.
- Free to start: 3,000 free words, no card required.
Apple Dictation vs the Lume keyboard#
Apple's built-in Dictation is good, and free. Here's what Apple documents for it as of October 2026 (iOS 27):
- Turn on Enable Dictation in Settings > General > Keyboard, then tap the microphone button on the keyboard. The keyboard stays open while you dictate, so you can switch between typing and talking.
- It's processed on your iPhone in many languages, with no internet connection required.
- In supported languages it adds commas, periods and question marks for you.
- You can edit by voice: spell a word letter by letter, say "Change tea to T-E-E", or say "select" or "delete" followed by a phrase, then "undo" if needed.
- It stops when you tap the microphone, say "Stop dictation", or stay silent for 30 seconds.
- With Apple Intelligence in iOS 27, an on-device model improves spelling, punctuation and capitalization, in English, on iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone Air or later.
| Apple Dictation | Lume keyboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, built in | 3,000 free words, no card required, then Pro |
| Where it lives | Microphone button on Apple's keyboard | Its own keyboard; switch to it in any app |
| Setup | Turn on Enable Dictation | Add the keyboard, allow Full Access and the microphone |
| Internet | Not needed in many languages | Required |
| Punctuation | Commas, periods and question marks added automatically | Punctuation, capitals and paragraph breaks from context |
| Filler words and self-corrections | Not a documented feature | Removed and applied |
| Spelling and grammar | Spelling, punctuation and capitalization improved by Apple Intelligence on the newest iPhones (English) | Grammar and spelling fixed on any iPhone with iOS 17 or later |
| Edit by voice | Yes: select, delete, replace, undo | No, it only writes |
| Writing styles | Not part of Dictation | Casual, Work, Excited, Gen-Z |
| Languages | Follows your keyboard's language | 100, detected automatically |
Swipe to see all columns
In short: Apple's Dictation is free, works offline in many languages, and is better for editing by voice. Lume is better when you want the filler, false starts and tone handled for you before the text lands.
When Apple's Dictation is enough#
- You mostly send short texts, and a stray word is no big deal.
- You're often offline, on flights, in the subway or in places with poor signal.
- You'd rather not give a third-party keyboard Full Access. That's a fair reason, and Apple's keyboard never needs it.
- You like editing by voice with commands such as select, delete and undo.
Many people keep both: Apple's keyboard for quick replies and Lume for anything longer.
What Lume does to your words#
Your speech is transcribed in the cloud, then a language model tidies it before it's inserted:
- Filler words and stutters ("um", "uh", "like", "you know") are removed.
- Self-corrections are applied: "let's meet at five, actually six" becomes "Let's meet at six."
- Punctuation, capitals and paragraph breaks are added from context, and spoken punctuation still works.
- Spoken lists become numbered or bulleted lists.
- Grammar and spelling are fixed.
- Custom dictionary: tell Lume the words it gets wrong and how you spell them, and those corrections are applied as your text is cleaned up. (On Mac and Windows, dictionary words are also passed to speech recognition.)
- Styles: Casual, Work, Excited or Gen-Z.
Does Lume work in every iPhone app?#
It works wherever you can switch to a keyboard and type: Messages, WhatsApp, Mail, Gmail, Slack, Notes, ChatGPT and the rest. For tips on specific apps, see dictating in Gmail, in Slack and into ChatGPT.
Languages#
Lume understands 100 languages and works out which one you're speaking, so you don't switch anything to move between them. You can also set an output language: speak English and get Spanish text.
Is Lume private?#
Lume is cloud-based, so it needs an internet connection and your audio is sent for processing. It isn't stored after processing (zero data retention), nothing you say is used to train models, and your dictation history stays on your iPhone, not on LumeVoice servers. If your audio must stay on the phone, Apple's Dictation is the better choice in the languages it processes on the iPhone.
How much does Lume cost on iPhone?#
Every new account gets 3,000 free words, no card required. After that, Pro is an in-app purchase through the App Store: $14.99/mo, $79.99/yr, or $249 lifetime. The first time you upgrade, Pro Monthly and Pro Annual start with a 7-day free trial (card required). The pricing page has the full details.
Students and teachers get 50% off Pro (student discount), and anyone who finds typing hard gets 50% off (accessibility discount). The codes are entered at checkout on a Mac or Windows PC, though; App Store purchases can't take discount codes.
Requirements#
- An iPhone running iOS 17 or later
- Lume Voice: Flow Keyboard AI from the App Store
- An internet connection
- The Lume Voice keyboard turned on, with Allow Full Access, and microphone access for the Lume app
Lume on your other devices#
LumeVoice also runs on Android, where a floating bubble sits over your keyboard, and on Mac and Windows, where you hold a shortcut and talk in any app.
The short version#
Apple's Dictation is free, private and works offline in many languages, so it's the right tool for quick texts. If you write longer messages and emails on your phone and want the filler words, false starts and tone handled for you, add the Lume keyboard and try it with 3,000 free words.