Keyboard and Screen Reader Accessibility in Wispr Flow

Android

Android screens are optimized for TalkBack, on-screen keyboards, and background process management.

• Accessibility setup guide: The guide image shown during accessibility settings setup is announced by TalkBack with a proper description.

• Dictionary screen: Search, word list, add/edit/delete actions, and filter chips (enterprise users only) are accessible with TalkBack. Swipe-to-edit and swipe-to-delete icons have proper labels.

• Back button behavior: On the main Dashboard, pressing back first closes the navigation drawer if it's open. If the drawer is closed and you're on a non-home tab, the first back press dismisses the keyboard and the second returns you to the Home tab. On the Home tab, back dismisses the keyboard or exits the app as normal.

• Navigation drawer and keyboard: Opening the navigation drawer automatically hides the on-screen keyboard to prevent overlap.

• Flow Bubble visibility: The Flow Bubble appears when your on-screen keyboard opens and disappears when it closes. With an external keyboard, the on-screen keyboard does not open, so the bubble does not appear. In search fields, the bubble automatically shrinks so it stays out of the way.

• Flow Bubble positioning: The bubble repositions correctly when you rotate your device to landscape.

• Keyboard handling: In edit mode, the Done button and list fade stay above the on-screen keyboard so they remain reachable. Snooze state is also preserved when the keyboard opens.

• Shake to unsnooze: Shaking your device while Flow is snoozed unsnoozes it immediately.

• Auto-start after device boot: Flow starts automatically when your device boots, as long as accessibility permission is enabled.

• Connection and permission recovery: Flow detects when its connection to accessibility services drops or permission is revoked and signals it on the Flow Bubble (pulsing spinner = reconnecting; warning triangle = needs attention). Tap the warning triangle to open the accessibility permission screen directly. Flow also restarts itself after being force-stopped and retries text insertion when the connection to a text field is lost. If you revoke microphone permission, Flow continues running and the Flow Bubble stays visible — tap it to re-grant access without restarting.

iOS

The Wispr QWERTY keyboard on iOS includes refinements that make typing more accessible and forgiving.

• Tap accuracy: Tapping in the gap between keys activates the nearest key instead of doing nothing.

• Autocorrect: Corrects misspelled words when you press space, return, or punctuation — for example, typing "teh" produces "the." Acronyms and words containing digits are left unchanged. Toggle Keyboard Autocorrect in Settings (off by default).

• Keyboard layout: Shift and Delete keys are smaller with gaps separating them from letter keys. The spacebar fills the full width of the bottom row, and double-tapping Space inserts a period followed by a space.

• Globe button (small-screen iPhones): A globe (🌐) button appears on the bottom row of small-screen iPhone models such as iPhone SE (2nd and 3rd generation). Tap it to switch to another installed keyboard.

• Space bar timing: Inserts a space when you lift your finger, matching the native iOS keyboard. Long-pressing the space bar to move the cursor still works as expected.

• Typing performance: Reduced lag and fewer dropped keys during rapid typing.

• Writing style picker: Tap the style pill next to the mic to open a standard iOS menu listing the available styles. The currently selected style is marked with a checkmark. The pill announces "Writing style" and the active style name to screen readers.

• Swipe back to activate mic (iOS 26.4 and later): When you need to swipe back to your previous app to activate the microphone, Flow shows a "Flow is on" screen with a "You can start dictating now" message, an animated preview and swipe gesture guide, and the instruction "Swipe right across the bottom edge to continue." These animations respect your iOS Reduce Motion setting.

• First-launch intro video (some users): Some new iOS installs see an intro that includes a short demo video before "Get Started" appears. With Reduce Motion enabled, or if the video can't load, this requirement is skipped and "Get Started" stays available immediately.

Navigating the Help menu with the keyboard

You do: Press Tab to the Help icon and press Space or Enter to open the menu. Tab through menu options and press Enter to select.

Result: The menu opens and each option receives focus in sequence. Press Escape to close the menu and return focus to the Help button.

Using Flow with VoiceOver on Mac

You do: Enable VoiceOver (Cmd+F5) and navigate to the Flow Bar.

Flow announces: Navigation landmarks, interactive element states, and the currently active page — letting you orient yourself without visual cues.

Editing a writing style with TalkBack on Android

You do: Open the Styles screen and use the category picker to browse style groups. Tap a style to open the editing sheet.

Flow announces: The sheet header with Cancel and Save buttons. Swipe to Save and double-tap to apply, or swipe to Cancel to discard changes.

Applying a repolish style with a keyboard shortcut

You do: Select some text, then press Option+2 (Mac) or Win+Alt+2 (Windows).

Result: Flow applies the selected polishing style (such as Prompt Engineer or Turn to list) without lifting your hands from the keyboard. Use Option/Win+Alt+3, +4, or +5 for the other available styles.

Docking the Flow Bar to the side of your screen

You do: Click and drag the Flow Bar. Three pill-shaped drop zones appear near the bottom, left, and right edges of your screen.

Result: Release on a zone to snap the bar there. If you change your mind, press Escape during the drag to cancel. When docked to a side edge, the bar switches to a vertical layout automatically.

Keyboard shortcuts (fn+space, Escape) stopped working on Mac

Another app on your Mac has Secure Keyboard Entry active, which blocks Flow's keyboard shortcuts system-wide. Hold-to-talk continues to work. If the block persists, Flow shows a notification naming the blocking app. To resolve:

1. Quit the app named in the notification, or switch away from it.

2. Check for a focused password field in your frontmost app and click away from it.

3. Log out and back in to your Mac if the block persists after switching apps.

The notification clears automatically once the block is released and your shortcuts resume working.

Bugs fixed in recent Android updates

Several Android issues were resolved across recent updates. Update to the latest version to get all of these fixes:

• Flow Bubble disappeared when microphone permission was revoked: Revoking microphone permission could stop Flow in the background, taking the Flow Bubble and accessibility connection with it. Flow now stays running, keeping the overlay and accessibility connection alive so you can tap the bubble to re-grant access.

• Flow crashed repeatedly after revoking microphone permission on Android 14+: Flow no longer enters a crash loop when mic permission is revoked in System Settings. The Flow Bubble shows a prompt so you can tap to restore access without reinstalling.

• Flow Bubble disappeared in the background: Android's memory manager and battery optimizers could stop Flow in the background. The bubble now reappears the next time you open the app, as long as you're signed in and accessibility permission is still granted.

• Flow Bubble and text insertion stopped working even with accessibility permission enabled: Some Android devices (OnePlus, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Samsung) silently disabled Flow's accessibility permission in the background. Flow now detects this and sends a high-priority "Wispr Flow needs attention" notification linking directly to the relevant settings.

• Flow didn't restart after being force-stopped or killed by the OS: Flow now restarts automatically when you bring it back to the foreground and prompts you to re-grant accessibility permission if needed.

• Dictated text wasn't inserted after switching apps or text fields: Flow now detects a broken connection to the active text field and automatically retries text insertion.

• Flow didn't start automatically after device boot: Flow now starts on boot as long as accessibility permission is enabled.

• No prompt to re-enable accessibility on cold launch: The Repair bubble now appears immediately on launch whenever accessibility permission is missing, and stays visible until reconnected.

• Text insertion was slow on Samsung devices: Flow now recovers faster after a connection issue, so text is inserted more quickly.

• Flow Bubble took a long time to show a reconnecting indicator: Lost connections are now detected immediately and signaled on the bubble (pulsing spinner = reconnecting; warning triangle = needs attention).

• Snooze reset, got stuck, or didn't respond to shake: Snooze state now persists when the keyboard opens, shake-to-unsnooze works reliably, and snooze cards are cleared after a force-stop and relaunch.

• Flow Bubble positioning issues: The bubble now repositions correctly after landscape rotation and shrinks automatically in search fields.

To get these fixes:

1. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version.

2. Restart your device once after updating.

3. Re-grant accessibility or microphone permission if Flow prompts you.

Can I use keyboard navigation alongside voice input?

Yes. Keyboard navigation and voice-to-text work independently, so you can navigate the interface with shortcuts while dictating.

The Help menu isn't closing when I press Escape. What should I do?

Make sure the Help menu has focus before pressing Escape — Tab to it first, then press Escape. If it still doesn't close, click elsewhere in the app to dismiss it.

Can I reposition the Flow Bar using only the keyboard?

Not currently. Docking the Flow Bar to a different edge of the screen requires clicking and dragging with a mouse.

Why does the Flow Bar look different when docked to the side?

When docked to the left or right edge, the Flow Bar switches to a vertical layout so all controls stay visible and usable. See Flow Bar docking above for the full behavior.

Why doesn't a screen reader announce the Flow Bar drop zones during a drag?

The drag interaction is mouse-driven and the drop zones are visual targets. Press Escape to cancel a drag and leave the bar where it is. Full screen reader support for drag-and-dock is a known limitation.

Why do my keyboard shortcuts stop working on Mac?

Another app has Secure Keyboard Entry active, which blocks Flow's shortcuts while hold-to-talk keeps working. See Common issues above for the full fix.

Why do I see a warning about accessibility shortcuts on Android?

During Android onboarding, Flow warns you not to enable the system accessibility shortcut. If it's already enabled, an error screen appears with an "Open settings" button. Turn the shortcut off and onboarding resumes automatically.

What does a pulsing bubble or warning triangle mean on Android?

Flow has lost its connection to accessibility services. A pulsing bubble with a loading spinner means Flow is reconnecting automatically — wait a moment. A warning triangle means reconnection is taking longer than usual or permission was revoked; tap the bubble to open accessibility settings and re-enable Flow.

What is the Repair bubble on Android, and why won't it go away?

The Repair bubble appears when Flow's accessibility permission is missing or disconnected, and stays visible until you restore it. Tap the bubble to open accessibility settings. Snooze is unavailable while the bubble is in this state.

What happens if I revoke microphone permission on Android?

On Android 14 and later, Flow keeps running instead of crashing. The Flow Bubble stays visible with a prompt to re-grant microphone access, and dictation resumes automatically once you restore permission — no restart required.

Can I turn off autocorrect on the iOS keyboard?

Yes. Open Settings in Wispr Flow and toggle off Keyboard Autocorrect. The toggle appears only when the Wispr QWERTY keyboard is active, and autocorrect is off by default.

I can't switch away from the Wispr keyboard on my iPhone SE. What can I do?

Tap the globe (🌐) button on the bottom row of the Wispr keyboard. Make sure you have at least one other keyboard installed in Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards.

I don't see the repolish keyboard shortcuts. Why not?

Repolish shortcuts are available on Mac and Windows only. They activate after you first open the Transforms tab, click "Try it out," or toggle Transforms on.

My Option+key special characters stopped working on an international keyboard. What happened?

Opening the Transforms tab, clicking "Try it out," or toggling Transforms on activates the Transforms shortcuts (Option+1, Option+2, and so on). If these conflict with your layout's special characters (such as ñ or ö), customize or disable them in the keyboard shortcuts settings dialog.

I have Reduce Motion on — will I get stuck on the intro video during setup?

No. Some new iOS installs show an intro with a short demo video before "Get Started" appears. With Reduce Motion enabled, that requirement is skipped and "Get Started" is available immediately. The same applies if the video is slow to load or unavailable.