Dictate in any app · Docs

Voice typing in Coda

Coda merges documents and databases, and both halves need explaining. Typally types what you say straight into Coda — hold a key, talk, let go — so you can dictate anywhere Coda lets you type.

From the people who build Typally. If Coda's own option covers your use, use it — this page will tell you when it does.
Dictate into Coda Free — 100 minutes of dictation every month. No card, no trial countdown.
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In short

  • Coda's own dictation: None. Text in docs, tables and canvas columns is typed.
  • What Typally does instead: covers Coda and every other program on the machine with one hotkey.
  • Best used for: doc narrative sections

Does Coda have built-in dictation?

None. Text in docs, tables and canvas columns is typed.

Why dictate in Coda at all?

A Coda doc that automates a team's process is powerful and opaque. The formulas encode decisions nobody wrote down, and the text columns meant to explain them stay empty.

In practice people use it for: Doc narrative sections, table detail columns, process documentation, and the explanation of what a formula does.

How to dictate in Coda

Setup happens once, outside Coda, and then applies to every program on the machine:

1

Start with the install

Windows or macOS build, signed in once.

2

Open Coda and click where you want the text

Whatever has the cursor receives the text, so click the right place in Coda before starting.

3

Hold the hotkey and talk

Say the whole thought, then let go. No time limit.

4

Read it before you move on

Coda's editor responds to slash commands, so a dictated slash opens the command menu mid-sentence.

What Typally adds in Coda

Typally types into Coda's doc sections and table detail columns, so the text column explaining what a formula is for stops being empty. Open the row first so you are writing into a proper text area rather than a cramped cell, and the explanation lands as clean prose next to the thing it explains.

What this looks like in practice

A team's hiring doc runs on eleven formulas built by someone who has since left. A colleague spends an hour dictating what each one is for into a description column, and the doc becomes maintainable again.

One habit that makes it work better

Document what a formula is for in a text column beside it. Coda docs outlive the person who built them and formulas do not explain themselves.

What to watch out for in Coda

Coda's editor responds to slash commands, so a dictated slash opens the command menu mid-sentence.

Frequently asked questions

Does Coda have speech input?

No. All text entry is typed.

Can I dictate into a Coda table cell?

Yes. Open the row so the field is a proper text area rather than a cramped cell.

Does dictation work in Coda's mobile app?

Mobile uses the phone keyboard's microphone; desktop is where a separate tool applies.

Try it in Coda

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

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Also dictate in: Notion · Airtable · Quip · GitBook · Guru · see all apps