You can dictate text to your iPhone instead of typing very for a long time, and over the years it has sometimes improved. But with iOS 16, dictation features take a huge step forward in usability—so much so that you can start using them all the time. If you have an iPhone with an A12 Bionic chip or better (that’s the iPhone XS), you’ll be able to speak, type, or edit text without any problems, making the whole dictation “workflow” much smoother. Automatic punctuation can add commas, periods, and question marks. And you can also add emoticons with your voice.

Here’s how to make the most of these awesome new dictation features to speed up your typing.

Just touch the microphone

You start using dictation the same way you did in earlier versions of iOS: just tap the microphone icon in the bottom right corner of your keyboard. You’ll notice that in Messages, the microphone icon is right in the text input field, replacing the old voice note button.

Then just start talking. In almost any text entry area other than search fields, words will start to appear as you speak, but the keyboard will remain on screen and the microphone button will be highlighted.

While you’re talking, you can switch to typing at any time and then just keep talking to continue typing in the same way. Alternate between typing and speaking – once you get the hang of it, it will be pretty fast. You can double-tap words to select them, press and hold the spacebar to navigate the cursor like a trackpad; all the usual text input controls are always there, now you can just speak in addition to touch and swipe.

You’ll notice a small “stop dictating” microphone icon next to the text cursor. Tap this or the microphone icon at the bottom of the keyboard to stop dictating. Dictation will also automatically stop if there is a long silence.

Conversation Tips

Dictation works best when you speak clearly and at a normal pace. It’s a little different than sloppy speech, but it’s worth the effort for the speed boost.

There are many commands you can use to format text or enter special characters. While the new automatic punctuation feature (see below) will attempt to insert commas, periods, and question marks correctly, other punctuation marks can be added by simply speaking. Here is a list of some of the most useful formatting commands. Just say them as you speak, like “In iOS 16, comma dictation is an incredibly useful exclamation mark.”

For years, you could add a couple of different emojis to dictation, mostly just smiles and frowns, but iOS 16 greatly expands the number. You’ll have to experiment a bit to find which descriptions match the right emoji, but the key is to say “emoji” after it. If you want to type the word “shrug”, say “shrug”. But if you want to type 🤷‍♂️, say “shrugs emoticon”.

Important Settings

There are two important settings to be aware of for dictation. Open settings > General > Keyboard and then scroll down to Dictation section to find them. The former will completely disable the dictation feature. This isn’t usually necessary – Apple sometimes sends voice samples back to its servers to improve the quality of the dictation – but the phrases are short and anonymous, which doesn’t mean that an open mic is recording your every word. It is enough just not to enter the dictation mode so that it remains inactive.

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Another switch turns the automatic punctuation feature on or off. This is a new feature for iOS 16, and it tries to intelligently insert commas, periods, and question marks while paying attention to your phrase and tone of voice. It’s a bit random in the iOS 16 beta, so if you find that any time you save is offset by all the fixes you’ve made, just turn it off.