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Voice typing without internet on Android: what works and how to fix it

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Most voice typing on Android sends your audio to a server, which is why the mic key goes dead in a tunnel or on a plane. A few paths run a recognizer on the phone instead, and they only work after you have downloaded the right language. This page shows how to tell which kind you have, then how to fix or set up the offline kind on Gboard, Samsung Keyboard and SwiftKey.

Lexo has dictation that runs on the phone, and it gets a short honest section near the end. Thirty days free with everything unlocked, then $9.99 once. Get it on Google Play

Every menu path and behavior below comes from Google's, Samsung's or Microsoft's own support pages (linked), read on 2026-10-04. Phone makers and Android versions rename things, so treat the paths as a map rather than a script. Where a vendor's page doesn't say whether something works offline, I say that instead of filling it in.

Find out which kind you have (one minute)

  1. Turn on airplane mode and check the Wi-Fi and mobile icons are actually off.
  2. Open a notes app, tap the mic key on your keyboard and say a full sentence.
  3. If text appears, that keyboard's voice typing is running on the phone. If it stalls or says it can't connect, it needs a server.
  4. Switch airplane mode off again before trying the fixes, because some need a download.

Why a single phone can do both: Android's speech API defaults to letting either a network or an offline engine answer. An app has to ask for offline-only with a separate flag, EXTRA_PREFER_OFFLINE, whose default is false. So a recognizer that works offline one minute and not the next isn't necessarily broken.

What the vendors say

Gboard: the fix list

  1. Check the microphone permission: Settings > Apps > Gboard > Permissions > Microphone, then Allow only while using the app. This is Google's own first step for voice input problems.
  2. In any text field, open Gboard settings from the top of the keyboard and tap Voice typing. Make sure Voice typing is on.
  3. On a Pixel 6 or newer, turn on Advanced voice typing features there. Google says your primary Gboard language and your device language must match for it to work, so check both.
  4. Go to Settings > System > Language & region > Speech > On-device recognition > Add a language and download yours. That path is from Google's Voice Access page (Android 13 and newer), where it is the download for offline speech recognition. Google's Gboard pages never say Gboard uses that pack, so treat this step as worth trying and then run the airplane-mode test to find out.
  5. If this is a brand-new Pixel, give it time. Google says advanced voice typing can take a few hours of updates to become available, and tells you to stay on Wi-Fi, restart and charge it overnight. Testing offline in that window will fail.
  6. Last resort: Settings > Apps > Gboard > Storage & cache > Clear cache, then Clear storage, which resets Gboard to its default state.

Google also lists a Faster voice typing switch there, for responsiveness. Its page doesn't say it makes dictation work offline. On a Pixel 11, Google says Rambler supports offline use with limited features, which is a different feature from the above.

Samsung Keyboard: the fix list

Samsung's keyboard support page covers this. There are two built-in voice engines, Samsung voice input and Google Voice Typing, and Samsung voice input only appears when you use the Samsung Keyboard.

  1. Go to Settings > General management > Samsung Keyboard settings and swipe to Voice input.
  2. Tap Samsung voice input. (Samsung says you can pick Google Voice Typing there instead.)
  3. In the Offline voice input section, tap the switch next to your language.
  4. If your language isn't listed, tap Install offline language pack, then the Download icon next to it. It moves into the Installed section at the top.
  5. Tap Back, then switch on the newly downloaded language.
  6. To have Google Voice Typing available too, go to Settings > General management > Keyboard list and default and switch on Google Voice Typing.

Samsung's page doesn't list which languages have offline packs, so go by what your phone shows.

SwiftKey: the fix list

Microsoft's page Use your voice to type is the source.

  1. Know the default: SwiftKey's multimodal voice typing is on by default and sends voice data to Microsoft's speech services, so it needs a connection.
  2. For the other route, open SwiftKey settings, tap Rich input, and turn off Multi-modal voice typing. SwiftKey then hands dictation to Google's voice input.
  3. Make sure the Google app is installed and updated. Microsoft says voice typing may not work properly without it.
  4. Microsoft says language and offline recognition for that Google route are managed in the Google app under Settings > Voice. If you can't find it, use the On-device recognition step in the Gboard list above.

If none of that gets you offline dictation

Then a separate app or keyboard is the answer. The tradeoffs between Google's recognizer, FUTO Voice Input, Whisper-based apps and Lexo are in the offline dictation writeup.

Where Lexo fits

Lexo (com.lexo.keyboard) is my keyboard, and its dictation recognizes speech with a model that runs on the phone. Once setup is done, dictating generates no network traffic, and nothing you say leaves the phone. The catch is setup: the speech model is a separate download the first time you use the mic, so do that on Wi-Fi well before the tunnel. Dictation is part of the paid unlock. You get 30 days with everything on, then it's $9.99 once, with no subscription and no ads. After the trial, without the unlock, the mic key stops. English is by far its strongest language, and Google's language coverage is wider. The airplane-mode check above tests all of this, and the safety page says what to look for in a network capture.

Questions

Does Gboard voice typing work without internet?

It depends on the phone and the feature. Google says ordinary talk-to-text sends your voice to Google for transcription, while on Pixel 6 and newer the advanced voice typing features keep spoken text on the device. Run the airplane-mode test on your own phone rather than assuming.

Why does voice typing work sometimes and fail other times with a weak signal?

Android's documentation says either a network engine or an offline engine may answer unless the app explicitly asks for offline only, so the same keyboard can behave differently from one attempt to the next.

Do I have to download something before voice typing works offline?

Yes, in every case above. Google's path is Settings > System > Language & region > Speech > On-device recognition > Add a language, Samsung's is Install offline language pack under Voice input, and Lexo downloads its speech model the first time you use the mic.

Is on-device voice typing private?

On-device recognition keeps the audio on the phone, but features layered on top can still use a server. Google says its Fix it and detailed edits features send text to Google servers. Check each feature, not just the headline.

Lexo is the keyboard this section is about. Thirty days free, then $9.99 once, no subscription and no ads. Get it on Google Play

More: all the writeups, six Android keyboards compared, fixing autocorrect that stopped working, and how to check what a keyboard sends.