Voice typing for emails: transcribe first, polish by choice.

By the Echo team · Published September 16, 2026 · Updated September 17, 2026 · 中文版

A clearer email should not promise something you never said. Start with transcription when the wording matters. Choose AI editing when you want help with structure, then review the meaning before sending.

Try the three sample drafts · 试试中英混输测试句

Choose what you want the tool to change

Echo separates these two jobs. Quick turns speech into text without LLM rewriting. The speech recognizer can still revise words and punctuation as more context arrives; Quick is not a guarantee of a verbatim or error-free transcript. Polish adds optional AI editing. Use it when a spoken draft needs a more readable structure or tone, not when every phrase must stay untouched.

For a short reply you already know how to phrase, start with Quick. For a rambling draft, consider Polish. You do not need to send every email through an AI rewrite.

The word to protect is sometimes “if”

The following sentences are hand-written examples of what to check, not an Echo recording, generated output, or benchmark.

What you mean: “We can launch Friday if QA passes. Please ask Mina to confirm.”

A clearer version that keeps the condition: “If QA passes, we can launch on Friday. Could you ask Mina to confirm?”

A change to reject: “We will launch on Friday. Mina has confirmed.”

The last sentence is fluent, but it turns a condition into a commitment and invents a confirmation. Whether you use transcription alone, AI editing, or manual editing, check the condition and who is responsible for the next action. Correcting “lunch” to “launch” is useful, but preserving “if” matters just as much.

A repeatable email workflow

1. Prepare the terms. Manually add frequently used names and project terms to Echo's personal dictionary where available. This is a vocabulary aid, not automatic learning from every correction or an accuracy guarantee.
2. Open a draft and choose the mode. Use a compatible text field. On iPhone, enable the Echo keyboard first; on Mac, complete the app's permissions setup. See the setup guide for the current instructions.
3. Dictate one thought at a time. Say the request, the reason, and the next step. For a long email, work in short paragraphs so a correction does not require rereading the entire message.
4. Review the completed text. Check names, dates, amounts, conditions, negations, and the requested action. If you chose Polish, also check that it did not add a promise or remove a qualification.
5. Send from your mail app. Verify the recipient and any attachment separately. A good transcript does not verify either of them.

Bilingual emails need one extra check

If you mix Chinese and English, decide which language each name, technical term, and sentence should keep. Transcription, rewriting, and translation are different tasks. Quick is not an automatic translation mode. After any translation or rewrite, check the original conditions as well as the translated wording.

When this is not the right workflow

Echo's cloud speech recognition and AI polish require an internet connection; local history does not make recognition offline. Do not dictate confidential material unless the service's data handling fits your needs or your organization's policy. iOS and individual apps can restrict third-party keyboards, especially in secure fields. Use the system keyboard when a field does not support Echo.

A useful first test: try a short, non-sensitive draft containing a name and an “if” clause. Choose Quick or Polish deliberately, review the result, and decide whether it is easier than your current workflow. This guide makes no speed or accuracy promise.

Product references: setup and mode details, personal dictionary, privacy policy, and official product facts. Prepared with AI assistance for the Echo team. Examples are illustrative.