1. Decide which Anki voice job you mean
Use live dictation when the result should be editable text inside a note field. Use Anki’s microphone icon when the result should be an audio file attached to the note. Use a TTS template when Anki should speak existing field text during review.
Pronunciation evaluation and hands-free review are different again. They usually depend on a specific add-on or control workflow, so do not treat every microphone, speaker, or voice add-on as interchangeable.
- Speech to text: live voice becomes editable field content.
- Recording: captured audio remains attached to the note.
- Text to speech: existing field content is read aloud.
- Pronunciation evaluation: spoken output is compared or assessed.
- Review control: voice or accessibility commands operate the interface.
2. Dictate a disposable Basic note first
In Anki Desktop, choose Add and confirm the Basic note type. Anki’s manual identifies Front and Back as fields and says Anki creates the card after you add the note. Click Front until the insertion point is visible, trigger the Mac Dictation shortcut, speak one short prompt, then stop Dictation.
Move deliberately to Back and repeat for the answer. Review spelling, names, numbers, punctuation, and the active deck before you choose Add or press Command-Enter. Speech input supplies text; it does not verify the fact, select the deck, or decide which field should receive the words.
- Test in a disposable deck or note before using an important collection.
- Keep the first Front and Back short enough to inspect completely.
- Stop Dictation before changing fields or adding the note.
- Read both fields and the selected deck before Command-Enter.
3. Use the same focused-field rule for existing and custom notes
The Anki editor appears while adding notes, editing during review, and browsing. Click the exact field you intend to change before starting Dictation. With custom note types, field names and order can differ, so do not assume the first visible box is Front or the second is Back.
Dictation can supply ordinary prose to an Extra or custom field, but it does not understand the card template that will render that field. Preview the resulting card when placement, formatting, or field visibility matters.
4. Dictate cloze text, then create the cloze deliberately
For a Cloze note, dictate the complete readable sentence into the Text field first. Then select the exact span to hide and use Anki’s cloze control. The manual documents syntax such as {{c1::1913}}, including numbering, hints, and nesting rules.
Do not try to speak braces, colons, field names, HTML, LaTeX, or template syntax as if ordinary recognition will preserve every character. A plausible-looking syntax error can create the wrong card. Treat structure as an explicit editing step after the transcript is visible.
5. Keep the Anki microphone and TTS paths separate
Anki’s editing manual says the microphone icon records from the computer microphone and attaches the recording to the note. That is useful when the audio itself should remain, but it does not create ordinary editable text in Front or Back.
Anki’s template manual documents TTS tags that read existing fields using operating-system voices on macOS. TTS moves from text to speech. Dictation moves from speech to text. A speaker voice, microphone recording, and editable transcript therefore have different source data and results.
6. Troubleshoot the failing layer in order
First test macOS Dictation in TextEdit. If it fails there, confirm Dictation is enabled under Keyboard settings, inspect the active shortcut and language, and test the selected input device. If TextEdit works, return to Anki, open a plain Basic note, click directly in Front, and verify a visible insertion point.
If an add-on or Anki recording feature fails while ordinary Dictation works, the system speech path is not the problem. Check Anki microphone permission, the add-on’s current compatibility, and the specific feature’s controls. Apple lets you review app microphone access under Privacy & Security → Microphone.
- Fails in TextEdit: diagnose Mac Dictation, language, shortcut, and input.
- Works in TextEdit but not Anki: isolate field focus and note type.
- Recording fails: inspect Anki microphone access and selected device.
- Add-on fails: inspect its version, author guidance, and Anki compatibility.
7. Separate local recognition from AnkiWeb synchronization
Apple tells users to inspect the disclosure beneath Keyboard → Dictation to see whether general Dictation voice inputs and transcripts are processed on-device for the current Mac, language, and configuration. Do not transfer that statement to every configuration.
After the text enters Anki, the note follows Anki’s own storage and sync choices. The Anki manual says AnkiWeb can synchronize a collection across devices and can automatically sync when a collection opens or closes. Local speech recognition does not make the resulting flashcard local-only.
8. Add another dictation app only for a distinct constraint
Apple Dictation is the correct first test for occasional Anki field entry. A third-party dictation app is relevant only when you need a different processing path, a held-key habit used across supported apps, or output cleanup before the text reaches Anki.
IraVoice 0.7.1 can provide local held-key text to a supported focused Anki field on macOS 26+ Apple-silicon Macs when Anki exposes that field through macOS Accessibility. It does not access decks, create notes, add cloze syntax, attach recordings, grade pronunciation, install add-ons, control review, synchronize AnkiWeb, or press Add.