Starting Your First Dictation on Android

Last updated: November 2, 2026

Available on: Android 13 and later

The Flow Bubble turns speech into text in Android apps. For your first dictation, use an empty message or note field.

Before you start

Dictation requires an internet connection. Below the minimum supported app version, Flow blocks usage with “Update Required” — select “Update Now” to update from the Play Store.

Note: The bubble, including repair icons, stays hidden until setup is complete for your signed-in account and while setup screens are open. Signing out removes the bubble.

  1. Allow microphone access during Flow’s tutorial.

  2. Enable “Display over other apps” when prompted.

  3. Tap Open settings on the accessibility instruction screen. On some Samsung and Xiaomi devices it takes a couple of seconds, and it opens even if Flow’s floating guide can’t appear, for example in split-screen.

  4. Select Agree on the first-time notice. Not now returns you to the accessibility setup screen, where you can reopen the notice and accept it later.

  5. Enable Wispr Flow’s main toggle under Android Settings → Accessibility, keeping “Wispr Flow shortcut” off — setup only continues with the toggle on and the shortcut off. Look under Installed apps on Samsung, Wispr Flow on Vivo/Motorola, or Downloaded apps elsewhere. Flow’s floating guide closes and returns you to the app once access is granted; on Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO, tap OK to confirm.

  6. Choose your privacy preferences, then whether to allow notifications.

  7. Grant the standard battery exemption when prompted, including on Pixel/Google devices, or select Skip, and complete the attribution survey if shown.

On Realme, OPPO, Vivo, Huawei/Honor, OnePlus, Transsion, and Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO, finish both the manufacturer battery screen and the per-app battery settings Flow opens next. Xiaomi/Redmi/POCO uses Open settings instead of Allow: enable autostart first, then select No restrictions; on some Xiaomi devices, reopen Flow before the exemption is recognized and setup advances on your return. If settings cannot open, retry or select Skip to continue. Pixel/Google, Samsung, Motorola/Lenovo, and unrecognized devices show only the standard battery dialog, and Pixel/Google needs no extra manufacturer battery setup.

Start your first dictation

  1. Tap an empty text field in Messages, WhatsApp, or another app so the on-screen keyboard opens.

  2. Tap the Flow Bubble at either screen edge to start recording.

  3. Speak naturally.

  4. Tap the checkmark (Done) to stop recording and submit it for transcription.

  5. Wait for transcription; when your words appear in the field, you’re done.

Press and hold the bubble to record instead, then lift your finger to stop and submit; there is no Done button during a hold, and Cancel becomes available about 3 seconds into transcription. Use Cancel (X) to cancel recording, or immediately while a tap-started dictation is being transcribed; the bubble returns to its inactive state.

Sessions last approximately 5 minutes. Flow warns “1 minute left before you reach the 5-minute limit.” At the cap it submits automatically, shows “Session ended, 5-minute limit reached”, and posts “Session ended” with “Flow supports up to 5 minutes per session.” Tap the bubble again for a new dictation.

If Flow shows an offline message when you tap or hold the bubble, that attempt does not start a dictation. If a weekly word-limit warning or soft-limit notice interrupts a start, the next press starts recording; a blocking limit notice shows your usage and the reset time.

Note: The bubble stays hidden in password fields — including custom fields the app marks as password — and in PIN, phone-number, and numeric-only fields. Exceptions include inline notification replies, browser URL bars, and system text-entry surfaces where the keyboard is open without an app window focused.

Restricted banking and payment apps hide the bubble even when you type or shake; shaking shows “Flow Bubble is disabled inside banking apps.” and does not end snooze. This restriction does not cover every bank or financial app.

Flow does not read existing text from password, number, phone-number, or URL fields, even where the bubble is allowed, and captures no field text inside restricted banking apps.

Recover a missing bubble or text

Repair icons appear only with a text field focused, hide when focus leaves, and do not interrupt a live dictation.

Warning triangle

The warning triangle means accessibility permission was revoked.

  1. Tap the triangle to open Flow’s repair screen.

  2. Select Open settings.

  3. Enable Wispr Flow’s main accessibility toggle, keeping the shortcut off.

Outside setup, automatic return to Flow stops after 5 minutes; reopen Flow yourself if needed.

Retry icon or reconnecting spinner

Retry icon: permission is still granted but Flow isn’t responding — tap to reconnect. Successful recovery shows “Flow Bubble reconnected.”

Reconnecting spinner: wait; it isn’t tappable. After 60 seconds without reconnecting it can become a tappable retry state, provided setup is complete and no setup screen is open.

No bubble appears

After a force-stop, open Flow once to restart it while signed in, with setup complete and the required permissions enabled.

In Home, swipe through the warning cards and use their action buttons — not the card body: Allow Microphone, Go to Settings, Allow, End snooze now, Turn Back On, or Restart Flow. Permission cards clear when you return with access restored.

  • Allow Microphone: after a permanent denial this opens Flow’s system settings instead of another permission prompt.

  • Allow: if the battery request shows “Something went wrong. Please try again.”, retry it.

  • Turn Back On: appears only when microphone, display-over-other-apps, and accessibility permissions are granted but the bubble is stopped.

  • Restart Flow: the “Flow isn’t responding” card appears only after Flow detects the problem and accessibility access is granted; otherwise use Go to Settings.

If the bubble is still missing, check your device’s background settings below.

Microphone access is missing

Tapping or holding the bubble asks for microphone access again. When Android will no longer show that request — for example after an “Ask every time” grant ends or a permanent denial — Flow shows the “We can’t hear you” sheet.

  1. Tap Go to Settings on the sheet to open Wispr Flow’s settings page.

  2. Enable the microphone permission for Wispr Flow.

  3. Return to your text field and dictate again.

Text wasn’t inserted

If direct insertion fails, Flow copies your text to the clipboard and shows Paste.

  1. Focus the target text field.

  2. Tap Paste on the bubble, or long-press the field and choose Paste.

Your words appear in the field. If Flow shows “Failed to paste text. It is still on your clipboard.”, paste manually. Tapping the Wispr icon dismisses this error without starting another dictation or discarding the clipboard text.

“Failed to transcribe. Saved in the app.”

Flow saves a failed history entry and keeps the captured audio for retry.

  1. Check your internet connection.

  2. Tap Retry on the bubble.

Retry on the bubble makes one fresh attempt. While it runs, no new dictation can start — pressing the bubble shows “Still retrying your last dictation. Try again in a moment.” Without captured audio, Retry only restores the bubble.

You can also use Home → More options → Retry Transcript while the recorded audio remains available; a successful retry updates the same card in Home. The option is hidden while a retry runs and when the card has no audio, so the same recording can’t be retried twice. If the recording contained no speech, the card is saved as an empty transcription.

Check background settings for your device

Manufacturer battery restrictions can hide the bubble even after permissions are granted. Use these settings if it remains missing after setup; on Pixel/Google this is optional recovery.

Pixel / Google: optional recovery

Select Unrestricted under Settings → Apps → Wispr Flow → Battery.

Samsung

Background controls: Settings → Battery → Background usage limits.

  1. Add Wispr Flow to Never sleeping apps.

  2. Disable Put unused apps to sleep.

  3. Select Unrestricted under Settings → Apps → Wispr Flow → Battery.

Xiaomi / Redmi / POCO

Autostart: Settings → Apps → Manage apps → Wispr Flow → Autostart.

  1. Enable Autostart.

  2. Select No restrictions under Settings → Apps → Wispr Flow → Battery saver.

  3. Lock Wispr Flow in recent apps by swiping down on its app card.

Vivo

Autostart: Settings → More Settings → Applications → Autostart.

  1. Enable Wispr Flow.

  2. Lock Flow in recent apps by swiping down on its app card.

Transsion: Tecno / Infinix / itel

Autostart: Security → Permissions → Autostart.

  1. Enable Wispr Flow.

  2. Select Don’t optimize for Flow under Settings → Battery → Battery optimization.

  3. Lock Wispr Flow in recent apps.

Motorola / Lenovo

Battery controls: Settings → Apps → Special app access → Battery optimization.

  1. Select Don’t optimize for Wispr Flow.

  2. Lock Flow in recent apps by swiping down on its app card.

OPPO

App controls: Settings → App Management → App List → Wispr Flow.

  1. Enable Allow Auto-Launch.

  2. Enable Allow Background Activity.

  3. Disable power saving mode, or add Wispr Flow to the power-saving exceptions.

Realme

Battery controls: Settings → Battery → Battery Optimization.

  1. Select Not optimized for Flow.

  2. Enable Auto Launch for Flow.

  3. Allow background activity for Flow.

OnePlus

Battery controls: Settings → Battery → Battery Optimization.

  1. Select Don’t optimize for Flow.

  2. Enable App Auto-Launch for Wispr Flow under Settings → Apps → App Auto-Launch.

  3. Lock Wispr Flow in recent apps.

Huawei / Honor

App launch controls: Settings → Apps → App launch → Wispr Flow.

  1. Select Manage manually.

  2. Enable all three toggles.

  3. Select Don’t allow for Flow under Settings → Apps → Special access → Battery optimization.

Other devices, including non-Pixel stock Android

Battery controls: Settings → Apps → Wispr Flow → Battery.

  1. Disable battery optimization.

  2. Enable autostart for Flow if available.

  3. Lock Wispr Flow in recent apps.

After any bubble repair, open an eligible text field with the keyboard visible. If the bubble returns, dictate again.

Still stuck?

Contact support if the bubble stays missing after setup, transcription fails on a stable connection, or you see an unlisted error.

  1. Open the Dashboard side drawer → Support → Report an issue.

  2. Select Issue under Request type for a bubble or dictation problem.

  3. Describe what happened, when, and the steps you tried.

  4. Tap Send.

A request type and description are required to send. Flow attaches your device manufacturer/model, Android version, app version, and timezone region.