In Brief

Posted:

6:41 AM PDT · April 24, 2026

Image Credits:Ivan Mehta

- Ivan Mehta

Nothing introduces an AI-powered dictation tool

In the last few years, AI-powered dictation tools have taken off. In addition to existing dictation apps like Wispr Flow, SuperWhisper, Willow, and Monolouge, new ones are being launched every week. On Thursday, hardware company Nothing launched a competitive product of its own, called Essential Voice.

The core idea is similar to other dictation apps, as Essential Voice works in any app to turn your speech into formatted text, removing filler words like “um” and “ah” along the way. The company said that you can also create custom voice shortcuts for words, links, templates, and repeated phrases. For instance, you can assign the “my address” shortcut to your full address.

At the moment, the feature is available on the Phone (3) with rollout for Phone (4a) Pro planned for later this month, and support for Phone (4a) arriving next month.

> The average person types 36 words a minute on a phone.

But, they can say it four times faster.

Essential Voice turns your speech into clear, ready-to-use writing. pic.twitter.com/l08bnS8sNF

— Essential (@essential) April 23, 2026

To access the feature, users either press the Essential key on devices where it is present or activate it from the keyboard. The feature is similar to the one that Superwhisper released earlier this week for iPhone users, which allows them to map the iPhone’s action key to the app’s keyboard for dictation.

Nothing’s new tool can also translate text directly from one language to another. At launch, Nothing said the feature supports over 100 languages. Going forward, it will also introduce app-based custom styling, meaning you’ll be able to change the tone of the AI editing within app categories, like work and messaging.

Nothing is one of the first companies to offer a system-level integration for dication. However, based on Google’s recent release of its offline dictation app, we might see more companies release similar tools in the future.

Topics

AI, ai dictation, Apps, nothing, Superwhisper, Wispr flow

April 30

San Francisco, CA

StrictlyVC kicks off the year in SF. Register now for unfiltered fireside chats and VC insights with leaders from Uber, Replit, Eclipse, and more. Plus, high-value connections that actually move the needle. Tickets are limited.

Newsletters

Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news

TechCrunch Daily News

Every weekday and Sunday, you can get the best of TechCrunch’s coverage.

TechCrunch Mobility

TechCrunch Mobility is your destination for transportation news and insight.

Startups Weekly

Startups are the core of TechCrunch, so get our best coverage delivered weekly.

StrictlyVC

Provides movers and shakers with the info they need to start their day.

No newsletters selected.

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice.

Apps

Instagram tests a new ‘Instants’ app for sharing disappearing photos

- Aisha Malik

19 hours ago

Era raises $11M to build a software platform for AI gadgets

- Ivan Mehta

23 hours ago

Security

Apple fixes bug that cops used to extract deleted chat messages from iPhones

- Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai

2 days ago

Latest in Apps

In Brief

Nothing introduces an AI-powered dictation tool

- Ivan Mehta

1 hour ago

Government & Policy

These are the countries moving to ban social media for children

- Aisha Malik

17 hours ago

Apps

Instagram tests a new ‘Instants’ app for sharing disappearing photos

- Aisha Malik

19 hours ago