Arabic voice typing on your computer: hold one key and talk

The short answer

Arabic voice typing means you speak Arabic and your words appear as text where the cursor is. Phones do it from the keyboard’s microphone: Apple lists Arabic dictation for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on iPhone, while Google’s Gboard help page does not say which languages it covers. A computer keyboard has no microphone button, and Windows voice typing does not list Arabic at all, so on a computer you need an app. DanDin is one, and it is ours. Click into a message, a document or a form, hold the start key (Fn on a Mac, Ctrl and the Windows key on a PC), talk, and let go. DanDin tidies the words and types them in. Its default language mode takes Arabic and English in the same dictation, so there is nothing to switch first. It needs the internet, runs on macOS 12 or newer and on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11, and is free for 2,000 words a week.

Which key starts Arabic voice typing on a computer?

One key, held down, in whatever you were already writing. Which key depends on your computer.

On a Mac, the default is Fn, the Globe key. In Settings, under Shortcuts, the "Start key" setting can pick one of these instead:

• Control
• Right Option
• Right Command
• Right Control

Some keyboards cannot pass Fn to DanDin, for example some external keyboards, or a laptop with the lid closed. When that happens, DanDin moves the start key to Control for you. The Mac asks for three permissions: the microphone, Accessibility (so DanDin can paste into other apps) and Input Monitoring (so the start key works). Until the last one is on, Command + Shift + D starts a dictation instead.

On Windows, hold Ctrl and the Windows key together. Either Ctrl key works with either Windows key. If you prefer one key, Settings can switch it to right Alt or right Ctrl. Win + Shift + D is a backup shortcut. Windows only asks for the microphone.

Hold, tap twice, or go hands-free?

Holding the key is the default: hold, talk, let go. That suits a quick reply.

For something longer, you have two ways to stop holding:

• Hands-free. Tap the start key twice, or hold it and press Space. DanDin keeps listening on its own. One more tap ends it.
• Toggle. In Settings, "Activation mode" can switch to Toggle: one press starts, the next press stops.

Esc cancels a dictation. If you cancel by mistake, you have 5 seconds to press Undo.

Which apps can you voice type Arabic into?

Any normal app where you can type: mail, chat, documents, browsers, code editors, AI chat apps. DanDin pastes into the app you were using, so it does not need a special version of each one. Every dictation is also saved in the app’s History, in case you want it again.

Two cases work differently, both on a Mac. If there is nowhere to paste, like the desktop or a Finder window, a small card shows the text with a button to copy it. And if an app is protecting your typing, like a password prompt, DanDin will not type into it: it copies the text and tells you to press ⌘V. Windows has no such check, so on a PC, never dictate a password.

One more thing for Arabic writers: DanDin writes Arabic without vowel marks. If you need full tashkeel, add it yourself.

Where do you set the language?

You may never need to. A fresh install starts in "Arabic + English", which handles both languages in one dictation. If you want to change it, hover over the small DanDin pill and click the gear that appears. That opens "Dictation options", and the Language row is the last one, below a line. It has three choices:

• "Arabic + English": Arabic and English, each sentence in its own letters. The default.
• "Arabic only": every word in Arabic letters, English words spelled the way they sounded.
• "English only": everything in English.

You can also find it in the main window, under Settings, Language, "Dictation language". Your choice is saved when you quit. You cannot change it while a dictation is running. Step by step, it is in the switch between Arabic and English help page.

What about Arabic voice typing on iPhone and Android?

DanDin has no phone app today, so here is what the phone makers document, re-read on 8 October 2026. We have not tested either.

Arabic voice typing by device, as each vendor documents it. Re-read 8 October 2026.

Option	Device	What the vendor documents for Arabic
Apple Dictation	iPhone and iPad (iOS and iPadOS 27)	Dictation: Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Arabic (United Arab Emirates). On-device: Arabic. Dictate Emoji: Arabic. Automatic punctuation: Arabic not listed
Gboard talk-to-text	Android	No language list on the help page at all: "Talk-to-text doesn’t work with all languages."
Apple Dictation	Mac (macOS Golden Gate)	The same dictation and on-device rows as iPhone, but Dictate Emoji does not include Arabic
Voice typing (Windows logo key + H)	Windows 11 and 10	46 languages for Windows 11, Arabic not among them. Voice access: 15 languages, no Arabic
DanDin (ours)	Mac and Windows computers	Three modes: Arabic + English (the default), Arabic only, English only

Swipe the table to see every column

The pattern is easy to miss: for Arabic, the built-in option is decent on Apple devices and missing on Windows. On a PC, a separate app is not a nice extra, it is the only way to voice type Arabic in every app.

Is there a free Arabic voice typing app for PC?

DanDin is free for 2,000 words in any rolling seven days, with no card. That covers a week of messages for most people, not a book. Pro has no limit and costs USD 16.99 a month or USD 149 a year; team plans exist too. Get it from the download page.

The only other free route on a PC is Google Docs voice typing in the browser, which types into that document and nowhere else. Windows itself offers nothing for Arabic.