Dictate in any app · Finance

Voice typing in Square

Square runs physical businesses, where the person doing admin was on their feet all day. Typally types what you say straight into Square — hold a key, talk, let go — so you can dictate anywhere Square lets you type.

Disclosure: Typally is our product. We have tried to describe what Square already does without talking you out of using it.
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In short

  • Square's own dictation: None. Item descriptions, customer notes and campaign text are typed.
  • What Typally does instead: puts text wherever the cursor is, in Square or in anything else you have open.
  • Best used for: item and menu descriptions

Does Square have built-in dictation?

None. Item descriptions, customer notes and campaign text are typed.

Why dictate in Square at all?

A café or salon owner does the books after closing. Item descriptions, customer notes and marketing messages all compete with going home, so they are done badly or not at all.

In practice people use it for: Item and menu descriptions, customer notes, marketing campaign text, and refund explanations.

How to dictate in Square

Nothing changes inside Square itself. Typally sits in the tray and types into the focused window:

1

Start with the install

Windows or macOS build, signed in once.

2

Click into the right box in Square first

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

3

Hold, say it, release

Nothing truncates part-way through.

4

Read it before you move on

Square's item fields have length limits that vary by surface — online store versus point of sale.

What Typally adds in Square

Typally types into Square's dashboard fields in the browser, so the descriptions get written in the time it takes to say them once. For an owner-operator doing admin at the end of a long day, that difference is whether it happens at all.

What this looks like in practice

A café owner describes forty menu items out loud after closing, in about twenty minutes. The online ordering page stops reading like a spreadsheet and starts sounding like the shop.

One habit that makes it work better

Describe menu items the way you would to a customer at the counter. You have said it hundreds of times, which makes it the easiest good copy you will ever write.

What to watch out for in Square

Square's item fields have length limits that vary by surface — online store versus point of sale.

Frequently asked questions

Does Square have voice input?

No. Its dashboard fields are typed.

Can I dictate menu item descriptions?

Yes, and saying them aloud usually produces better copy than typing, since you already describe them daily.

Does it work in Square's online store editor?

Yes — it is a browser interface.

Try it in Square

Start on the free plan (100 minutes a month, no card). Pro lifts the cap and adds meeting notes for $7.99/month.

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