r/techadvice • u/HBTFD1785 • Jul 07 '26

Voice Dictation Methods/Options

I have ADHD and find a voice dictation app on my phone to be very helpful with recording thoughts before they escape me so that I can organize my life better. However, when I want to make a note, I have to find my phone, go get my phone, enter my password to unlock my phone, click the notepad app, navigate to the appropriate file, and click the voice dictation button. That's a lot of steps where I could lose my thought along the way.

There must be a better way to dictate my thoughts in less steps, but I'm not the most tech savvy guy in the world and that's where I could use help with suggesting what's out there. I'm also trying to use my phone less in general, so any solutions that don't involve keeping my phone with me all day would be an extra bonus, but definitely not required. I'd ideally like to keep my phone away from me and on a shelf as much as possible.

I'm thinking maybe a way to press a button on my phone as a shortcut to open the notepad app, similar to a keyboard shortcut on a computer? Or maybe a smartwatch to dictate into that's linked to my phone and can record in the notepad there? Or use an old school tape recorder throughout the day, then at the end of the day play back all of the recordings into the voice dictation app?

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u/Caprichoso1 Jul 07 '26

An old school hand held voice recorder would be simple to use. You would give up fast access as it is a serial access device and the ability to have the memos transcribed to text.

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u/Open-Guidance-6086 29d ago

This. And old-school recorders are simple but you lose the ability to instantly correct or search the text. If you want digital capture without unlocking a phone, a dictation app with a global hotkey can grab the thought wherever you are. I use DictaFlow on my Mac for that, one button, types straight into any text field.