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Set up the Flow keyboard on iPhone

Available on: iOS

Add Wispr Flow as a keyboard on your iPhone to dictate directly into Messages, Mail, Slack, and any other app with a text field. Setup takes under a minute.


Quick checks

  • Is the app installed and opened once? Install Wispr Flow from the App Store, launch it, and tap through the first-launch screens to Get Started — the keyboard only appears in iOS Settings after first launch.

  • Are you signed in? Open the Wispr Flow app; if you see a Log in button, tap it and sign in. The keyboard won't transcribe otherwise.

  • Are you online? The keyboard needs Wi-Fi or cellular data to transcribe. Dictation fails while offline.


How to set it up

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

  2. Tap General → Keyboard → Keyboards.

  3. Tap Add New Keyboard, then select Wispr Flow under Third-Party Keyboards.

  4. Tap Wispr Flow in the keyboard list, turn on Allow Full Access, and tap Allow in the popup.

  5. Switch to Flow: open any app with a text field, tap and hold the globe icon on the keyboard, then select Wispr Flow.

  6. Verify it works: tap the microphone button and dictate a short phrase. If iOS asks for microphone permission, tap Allow. When your words appear in the text field, setup is complete.

Note: Full Access is required for transcription to work. Audio is handled securely and is not stored.


FAQs

How do I switch to the Flow keyboard while typing?

Tap and hold the globe icon on any keyboard, then select Wispr Flow from the list.

Why did my intro screen look different from a friend's?

Some new users see an updated first-launch experience. Which version you see is set the first time you open the app and won't change afterward. Both lead to the same app and keyboard setup.

Can I use the Flow keyboard in any app?

Yes, in any app that uses standard iOS text input — Messages, Mail, Notes, Slack, and more. Some apps with custom text fields, such as certain banking apps, don't support third-party keyboards.

Why does the system keyboard appear in some fields instead of Flow?

Flow switches to the system keyboard for number pads, phone fields, decimal pads, email-address fields, and numbers-and-punctuation fields.

Does the Flow keyboard autocapitalize as I type?

Yes. The Flow QWERTY keyboard capitalizes automatically to match system keyboard behavior:

  • The first letter at the start of a new text field, after a newline, or after sentence-ending punctuation (. ! ?) followed by a space.

  • The standalone pronoun "i" to "I", including contractions such as "i'm" → "I'm", "i'll" → "I'll", "i've" → "I've", and "i'd" → "I'd". Curly and straight apostrophes are both supported; this correction is English only.

  • Field-level rules are respected: username and email fields suppress auto-capitalization, while word-by-word capitalization fields capitalize the first letter of each word.

Single-tap shift behaves as on the system keyboard. For caps lock, double-tap the shift key — caps lock stays on while you type, press backspace, or tap space, and turns off only when you tap shift again or switch away from the letter layer (for example, by opening the 123 numbers keyboard).

How does autocorrect behave on the Flow keyboard?

Autocorrect skips words that contain digits and acronyms (words with two or more uppercase letters). If you retype your original word after a correction, Flow stops autocorrecting that word for the rest of the session.

Does double-tapping the space bar insert a period?

Yes. Quickly tapping the space bar twice converts the space to ". " (a period followed by a space), matching stock iOS keyboard behavior. It only fires when:

  • Both taps happen in quick succession, with no cursor movement or noticeable pause between them.

  • There is no active text selection.

  • The characters around the cursor are not already whitespace or punctuation — so it won't trigger on a single space next to an existing space while editing mid-text.

What is the "Show full QWERTY keyboard" setting?

When available, this toggle appears in Wispr Flow Settings → General. On, the Flow keyboard includes a full QWERTY layout. Off, tapping the ABC key switches to your next system keyboard. The toggle isn't visible to all users yet.

How does fast multi-finger typing work on the Flow keyboard?

The Flow keyboard matches Apple's system keyboard for fast typing. When you press a second key while another finger is still down, the first key commits immediately — in the order you touched down, not the order you lifted off.

Taps in the small gaps between keys or near the edges snap to the nearest key, and taps aimed at the space bar reliably register as a space across all supported iPhone screen sizes.

The keyboard also supports magnify callouts when you hold a key, space-bar trackpad mode for moving the cursor (press and hold the space bar, then slide your finger), delete and return key autorepeat with word-by-word deletion after a longer hold, and haptic feedback.

Does the processing spinner respect my accessibility settings?

Yes. With Reduce Motion enabled in Settings → Accessibility → Motion → Reduce Motion, the processing indicator in the keyboard's top bar stays static instead of spinning, for both dictation and voice-edit indicators.

How do I close the hamburger menu drawer?

Dismiss the drawer (opened via the hamburger icon) in two ways:

  • Swipe down anywhere in the drawer, including empty space. Short upward nudges leave it open; a full downward swipe closes it. Swiping down on a settings sub-page inside the drawer scrolls that page instead.

  • Tap the X button in the drawer.

The Settings and Refer-a-Friend buttons in the drawer continue to work normally.

The microphone button does nothing when I tap it

Microphone permission hasn't been granted or was revoked. Open Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and turn on the toggle next to Wispr Flow. Return to your app and tap the mic again — the waveform appears when it's working.

If Wispr Flow doesn't appear in that list, open the Wispr Flow app and tap the microphone once to trigger the iOS permission prompt. Keyboard extensions can't show iOS permission dialogs, so the prompt has to come from the main app.

If the button still doesn't respond, wait a moment. When the Wispr Flow app has closed in the background (common in Low Power Mode), the keyboard resets itself; rapid repeated taps delay the reset. Tap the mic again to start dictating.

What do the error messages mean?

When dictation can't complete, an orange triangle warning icon appears next to the mic button. Tap the triangle to open a dropdown with details and options:

  • "Couldn't start audio capture. Tap the mic to try again, or quit and reopen the Flow app if it keeps happening." The microphone couldn't be started — this can happen if you switched away from the app immediately after opening it, another app is holding the microphone, or a phone call is in progress. Only Dismiss is shown, since no audio was recorded. Tap Dismiss, then tap the mic to start a fresh dictation. If it keeps appearing, quit and reopen the Wispr Flow app.

  • "Your text is saved but didn't make it through." The server was busy or the dictation was interrupted. Tap Retry, or Dismiss to clear the warning.

  • "We didn't catch anything. Please try speaking again." A connection problem. Check your Wi-Fi or mobile data, then tap Dismiss and try again.

  • "Poor connection! Tap the mic to try again." A connection problem. Check your Wi-Fi or mobile data, then tap the microphone to retry.

  • "Your mic is being used by another app. Close other apps and try again!" Close other open apps, then tap the microphone again.

  • "Enable microphone access to use Flow." Open Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone and turn on the toggle next to Wispr Flow.

  • "Oops, something went wrong. Tap the mic to try again!" An unexpected error. Tap the retry icon or microphone button to try again.

For audio-capture and connection errors, the triangle menu shows only Dismiss — tap the mic to retry. For generic or cancelled errors, both Retry and Dismiss are shown.

During a service incident, a red octagon (full outage) or yellow triangle (degraded) icon appears on the top bar. Tap it for incident details and a link to our status page.

The keyboard shows "You're logged out" or "No Network"

For "You're logged out," open the Wispr Flow app and sign in with the Log in button. The keyboard works again once you're signed in.

For "No Network," reconnect Wi-Fi or cellular data and try again — the keyboard needs an internet connection to transcribe.

I don't see Keyboards or Microphone in Settings

Force close the Settings app and reopen it. The option appears once the app has fully refreshed.

Why do I see a screen that says "Swipe back to your app"?

On iOS 26.4 and later, activating the microphone from the Flow keyboard may take you to the Wispr Flow app. Swipe right on the bottom bar to return to your previous app — dictation continues once you're back.

The first time this happens, you'll see a one-time alert titled "A quick change for iOS 26.4+" explaining the manual-swipe requirement. Some users still see the older automatic switch-back behavior.

Why is there a small gap above the keyboard's top bar on iOS 26?

On iOS 26 with the Liquid Glass keyboard theme, iOS reserves that space for the theme's safe area, and Flow can't remove it. It's expected on that theme and iOS version.

How do I remove the Flow keyboard?

Open Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards, swipe left on Wispr Flow, and tap Delete.


Common issues

Typing and text entry bugs fixed in recent updates

Update Wispr Flow from the App Store and restart your iPhone to get these fixes:

  • Caps lock dropped back to lowercase when pressing backspace: Caps lock now stays on while you type, backspace, or tap space, and turns off only when you tap shift again or switch away from the letter layer.

  • Tapping near the space bar typed "m" or "n": Taps landing slightly above the space bar could register as "m" or "n". Space bar recognition has been improved.

  • Letters appeared out of order when typing quickly with multiple fingers: Keys committed based on when fingers lifted rather than when they touched down. Each key now commits in the order it was pressed.

  • Taps near key edges or gaps between keys were missed: Taps in these areas now snap to the nearest key.

  • Double-space inserted a period while editing mid-text: Pressing a single space next to an existing space could insert ". " or delete part of the previous word. The shortcut now only fires on a genuine consecutive double-tap.

  • Autocorrect joined words together: Autocorrect could turn "hello world" into "helloworld". It now checks the current text before making changes and skips the correction if the text has changed.

  • QWERTY keyboard didn't auto-capitalize correctly: Auto-capitalization now matches the system keyboard, respects field-level rules, and no longer capitalizes mid-word.

  • Standalone "i" wasn't capitalized to "I" while typing: The keyboard now capitalizes the standalone pronoun "i" as you type.

  • Raw code pasted instead of transcribed text in non-English languages: Formatted transcriptions in all languages now paste correctly.

Dictation and microphone bugs fixed in recent updates

Update Wispr Flow from the App Store and restart your iPhone to get these fixes:

  • Dictation failed when swiping away right after opening the app, another app was holding the mic, or a phone call was active: The keyboard now shows a dedicated error message — "Couldn't start audio capture. Tap the mic to try again, or quit and reopen the Flow app if it keeps happening." — instead of a generic error.

  • Blank screen appeared during onboarding after skipping the dictation step: The "switch to the Flow keyboard" guidance now stays visible until dictation content appears.

  • Flow returned to the wrong app after dictation: The keyboard now reliably returns you to the app you were typing in.

  • Error display redesigned: Errors previously showed inline text labels alongside a separate retry button. They now show a single orange triangle icon that opens a dropdown with an explanation and action options.

  • Mic button briefly flashed a warning icon after an error: The mic button now stays visible immediately after any error, so you can start a new dictation right away.

  • "Audio was silent" warning no longer appears: When a dictation captures no speech, the keyboard resets back to the microphone state instead.

  • Connection errors showed "Audio was silent": Failures caused by a lost connection or timeout now correctly show a connection error in the dropdown menu.

  • Connection errors during onboarding weren't surfaced: The keyboard now displays the same connection error during initial setup.

  • Keyboard got stuck on the mic button after returning from the Wispr Flow app: The keyboard now resumes correctly, shows the waveform, and stays responsive after you switch back.

  • First dictation after launch failed or felt slow: The first dictation now starts reliably and quickly.

  • Mic button became unresponsive after canceling a dictation in Low Power Mode: The mic button now resets reliably in this case.

  • Mic button got stuck and caused duplicate text: The mic button now resets correctly between back-to-back dictations.

  • Start Flow hand-off silently failed: The Start Flow button now launches the main app and begins dictation on the first tap.

  • Action Button, Shortcuts, and widget dictation could fail: These entry points are now more reliable, especially when starting and stopping dictation quickly or after force-closing the app.

  • Dictation waveform got stuck and cancel button stopped working: The keyboard now returns to its idle state automatically, and the cancel (✕) button always dismisses the dictation UI.

  • Dynamic Island microphone indicator stayed on after stopping dictation: The Turn Off toggle in the History view now fully stops the microphone session.

  • Keyboard showed "Start Flow" while recording: The keyboard now detects when recording is active and updates its display.

  • "We can't hear you" card appeared after onboarding: The first dictation now works immediately once microphone permission is granted.

Undo and redo bugs fixed in recent updates

Update Wispr Flow from the App Store and restart your iPhone to get these fixes:

  • Undo button stayed visible after moving the cursor: The undo button now dismisses immediately when you move the cursor. This applies to standard dictation undo only, not Voice Edit, which rewrites the whole field.

  • Undo or redo after switching text fields moved text to the wrong place: Undo and redo now reset whenever you move to a new text field.

  • Undoing a dictation in rich text editors removed formatting: In apps like Apple Notes, undo now removes only the dictated text and leaves formatting intact.

  • Undo/redo icon flipped before the text updated: The icon timing now matches the document update.

  • Undo button appeared when a safe undo wasn't possible: The undo button now hides itself rather than making a potentially incorrect edit.

  • Undo/redo buttons stayed on screen after typing: Tapping any key, including backspace, now dismisses the undo/redo option.

  • Undo/redo buttons appeared during keyboard setup: They are now hidden throughout setup and reappear once setup is complete.

Stability and appearance bugs fixed in recent updates

Update Wispr Flow from the App Store and restart your iPhone to get these fixes:

  • Hamburger menu drawer could only be swiped down from a card: You can now swipe down anywhere in the drawer — including empty space — to dismiss it. Swiping on the drawer no longer scrolls the app behind it.

  • Processing spinner drifted sideways over the style pill: The top bar spinner now rotates in place, including when you lock or unlock your device during processing.

  • Flow keyboard felt stuck on iOS 26.4 and the system keyboard appeared instead: In apps like Notion, Apple Notes, and Messages, the Flow keyboard could close silently. It now stays responsive across all apps on iOS 26.4.

  • Keyboard closed unexpectedly when switching apps: The keyboard now recovers safely when it appears after switching from another app.

  • Menu button disappeared after Select All and dictate: The menu button now stays visible after selecting all text and starting a dictation or Voice Edit session.

  • White screen or stale content flashed when launching from the keyboard: The app now shows a clean loading screen, and the recording view appears once everything is ready.

  • Keyboard battery drain: Background battery usage has been significantly reduced compared to earlier versions.

  • Setup tip text was cut off on smaller devices: The "Tap the mic to start speaking" tip now scales to fit smaller iPhones, such as iPhone SE.

  • Space bar showed "WisprFlow" instead of "Wispr Flow": The space bar now displays the name correctly.

  • Check button color didn't match the mic button during dictation: The confirm (✓) button now uses the same dark color as the mic button. Dark mode shows both buttons in white.

  • Keyboard spacing looked off: The spacing between the Start Flow bar and the first key row, the gap above the home indicator, and the top bar alignment are now correctly laid out.

  • Visual polish for the top bar and notification drawer: The top bar and notification drawer icons have been refreshed for a cleaner, more consistent look.


Still stuck?

Reach out to support if:

  • Wispr Flow doesn't appear in the Add New Keyboard list after installing the app.

  • Allow Full Access is greyed out or won't turn on.

  • Dictation still doesn't work after granting microphone permission.

Include your iPhone model, iOS version, and the app you were trying to dictate into. Most keyboard issues are resolved in one reply.

Need a hand?

Reach the Flow team and we’ll help you get unblocked.