airtxt

I dictate more than I type, but every voice tool seemed to force the same choice: keep processing on-device and accept rougher text, or send everything to the cloud for better transcription and cleanup.

I wanted both options—and I wanted dictation to work where I actually write, not only inside a separate recording app. That became Airtxt, an iPhone and iPad voice-to-text keyboard.

Physical-device testing taught me a few painful lessons.

First, simulator and automated tests are not enough. In one TestFlight build, cloud dictation worked perfectly while on-device dictation failed completely on the actual phone.

Second, AI cleanup can be more dangerous than transcription errors. During testing, the raw transcript was correct, but the cleanup model responded to the sentence as if it were a question. Instead of polishing the words, it invented an AI-style answer. That changed how I think about cleanup: the transcript must be treated as data, its meaning must be preserved, and the original text must remain recoverable.

Third, language settings have to reach every part of the pipeline. British and Indian English initially produced American spelling when people used their own Anthropic key—even though Airtxt’s default cleanup handled the locale correctly. The language picker now follows the user’s selection through transcription and cleanup, including bring-your-own-key providers.

Fourth, switching between on-device and cloud processing exposed lifecycle problems. A previous dictation could remain marked as “finishing” and block the next one. Voice software needs the same careful state management as any other asynchronous system.

Airtxt now supports system-wide keyboard dictation, on-device and cloud modes, AI cleanup, bring-your-own keys, voice memos, meeting notes, Siri shortcuts, regional English, and iPhone and iPad.

I’m still learning where trust breaks first for users.

If you use voice typing, which failure bothers you most: incorrect words, AI changing your meaning, or losing the text completely?

Airtxt: https://www.airtxt.ai