How to Set Up Flow Shortcuts for iPhone

Action Button — guided setup

Guided setup entry points appear on iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, the iPhone 16 family (including 16e), and the iPhone 17 family (including iPhone Air), but not iPhone 17e. This depends on the device, not the iOS version.

1. Open Flow Settings → General → Action button shortcut, or tap Set up on the home-screen shortcut card.

2. Tap Let's go!, watch the demo video, then tap Try now.

3. Add Quick Dictation to Clipboard when prompted, even if you previously added an older Flow shortcut.

4. Tap Go to Settings and follow the floating video guide to map the shortcut to your Action Button.

5. Return to Flow and tap Try now on "Let's test your new shortcut".

6. Switch to the Flow keyboard: tap a text field, then use the globe key to select it.

The keyboard-switch prompt is skipped if Flow's keyboard is already active; otherwise the walkthrough waits until you switch. On Flow's globe key, tapping advances to the next keyboard; holding opens the keyboard picker.

Complete the trial using "Test your shortcut" below. Skip on the keyboard-switch, dictation-test or final dictation screen stops any recording and goes directly to All Set.

Action Button — manual setup

Use an iPhone with an Action Button.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Tap Action Button.

3. Swipe through the options until you reach Shortcuts.

4. Tap the selection area under Shortcuts, then choose the Flow shortcut you want.

Use the test below to confirm the assignment.

Back Tap

Trigger Flow by tapping the back of your iPhone.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Go to Accessibility → Touch.

3. Scroll down and tap Back Tap.

4. Choose Double Tap or Triple Tap.

5. Scroll to the Shortcuts section and select your Flow shortcut.

6. Test by double- or triple-tapping the back of your iPhone. Dictation starts immediately.

Control Center

Toggle Flow ("Toggle Flow on/off") starts or stops recording, and its idle/recording state reflects whether Flow is recording. The Flow Notes widget — and the circular Flow Notes Lock Screen widget — use the Open Flow Notes action above.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Tap Control Center.

3. Find the Flow widgets under More Controls and tap the + icon to add them.

4. Swipe down from the top-right of your screen to open Control Center.

5. Tap a Flow widget to start or stop recording, or to open Flow Notes.

Lock Screen and Dynamic Island controls

Regular dictation offers Stop and Notes on the Lock Screen and expanded Dynamic Island; long-press the Dynamic Island to expand it, as compact and minimal views have no controls. Stop stays in the background; Notes uses Open Flow Notes.

During note recording, Save Note saves without opening Flow. It appears only while recording; afterward the expanded Lock Screen view returns to Stop and Notes.

Quick Dictation to Clipboard and non-note Dictate a Flow Note recordings can show "Hold to stop" with a timer instead of Dynamic Island buttons when Flow's keyboard is inactive, including starts from Shortcuts; this never appears for note recordings.

Dynamic Island is available on supported models starting with iPhone 14 Pro, not iPhone 14 or 14 Plus. Other iPhones show the Live Activity on the Lock Screen only.

Permission prompts or a missing shortcut card

With Full Access off, the keyboard shows "To use Flow → allow Full Access in your Keyboard Settings" and Finish setup. Without microphone access, "We can't hear you" replaces the home carousel, including the shortcut card, the home recording toggle is disabled, and the message reads "To use Flow, turn on Microphone in Settings", with Go to Settings.

1. Tap Finish setup or Go to Settings and complete the relevant permission steps under "Before setup".

2. Retry a short dictation to confirm text appears.

Depending on your iOS version and Full Access state, these keyboard buttons open iOS Settings or Flow's settings. After granting microphone access through Go to Settings, you can return directly to the keyboard without opening Flow first.

When a widget or keyboard link launches or resumes Flow to start dictation, Flow requests microphone permission; if denied, it offers Open Settings or Cancel. If permission was revoked in iOS Settings, tap Open Settings and re-enable microphone access for Wispr Flow.

Live Activity or audio failure

"Couldn't start dictation. Turn on Live Activities for Wispr Flow in Settings." means the start was refused; enable Live Activities using "Before setup". For "Couldn't start dictation. Try again.", retry the shortcut.

On the audio failure screen, tap Retry and test a short phrase; Dismiss and the close ✕ are also available. A Live Activity still starting after 8 seconds becomes idle; retry the shortcut. Quit Flow completely, then launch it again to clear a stale recording indicator.

The Flow keyboard does not appear

In other apps, Flow switches to the next keyboard for number-pad, ASCII number-pad, decimal-pad, phone-pad, email-address and numbers-and-punctuation fields; this does not apply to Flow's in-app keyboard preview. The Flow keyboard is also unavailable while editing a note inside Flow.

Messages during the dictation test

These banners disappear after four seconds. Retry a short phrase after the indicated action; text appearing in the test field confirms dictation worked.

• "Oops, we didn't hear you.. Get closer to your mic and try again!": Silence or no words were captured; move closer and retry.

• "Poor connection! Tap the mic to try again": Check your internet connection and tap the microphone.

• "Your mic is being used by another app. Close other apps and try again!": Close other apps and retry.

• "Enable microphone access to use Flow": Follow the microphone step under "Before setup".

• "Oops, something went wrong.. Tap the mic to try again!": Tap the microphone to retry.