Dictate in any app · Education

Voice typing in Anki

Making flashcards is the slow part of spaced repetition, and it is all typing. Typally types what you say straight into Anki — hold a key, talk, let go — so you can dictate anywhere Anki lets you type.

Yes, we build Typally. That is also why the section on Anki's built-in option is honest: people who switch after trying both are the ones who stay.
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In short

  • Anki's own dictation: None. Card fields are typed, though audio can be attached to a card.
  • What Typally does instead: behaves like a keyboard, so it reaches parts of Anki a built-in feature would not.
  • Best used for: card fronts and backs

Does Anki have built-in dictation?

None. Card fields are typed, though audio can be attached to a card.

Why dictate in Anki at all?

Everyone who uses Anki seriously knows the reviewing works. The bottleneck is card creation: turning a chapter into two hundred good cards is hours of typing, so people download shared decks that do not match their course.

In practice people use it for: Card fronts and backs, cloze deletions, extra explanation fields, and deck descriptions.

How to dictate in Anki

There is no Anki extension or add-in involved — Typally behaves like a very fast keyboard:

1

Set Typally up once

One install, one sign-in. Nothing else to configure.

2

Open Anki and click where you want the text

Click first. Typally types into Anki wherever the caret already is, with no idea what that field is for.

3

Press and speak

Hold, talk, release. Long passages are fine.

4

Read it before you move on

Anki's card editor uses fields with specific formatting, and Tab moves between them. A dictated tab or return can jump you into the wrong field mid-card.

What Typally adds in Anki

Typally types into whichever Anki field has focus, so the explanation field — the one that actually teaches — stops being the one you skip. Custom vocabulary keeps technical and medical terms intact rather than phonetically approximated, which matters more in flashcards than almost anywhere else, since a wrong term gets memorised.

What this looks like in practice

A medical student turns a lecture into ninety cards in about forty minutes by speaking each explanation rather than typing it. The deck matches her syllabus, which no shared deck did.

One habit that makes it work better

Dictate the explanation field, not just the answer. The card that tells you why the answer is right is the one that actually teaches; the bare answer just gets memorised.

What to watch out for in Anki

Anki's card editor uses fields with specific formatting, and Tab moves between them. A dictated tab or return can jump you into the wrong field mid-card.

Frequently asked questions

Does Anki have speech input?

No. You can attach audio to a card, but the fields themselves are typed.

Can I dictate cloze deletions?

The text, yes. The cloze markers are easier added by keyboard shortcut afterwards.

Is dictating cards faster than downloading a shared deck?

Slower than downloading, but the cards match your actual course. Making your own cards is also part of how the learning happens.

Try it in Anki

Free plan: 100 minutes of dictation a month, no card. Pro is $7.99/month if you want more.

Try Typally free

Also dictate in: Quizlet · Notability · GoodNotes · PowerSchool · Turnitin · see all apps