How it works: set up in two minutes

Two programs, and it matters which does what. The phone listens and recognises. The PC runs a small server that receives finished text and types it. They talk to each other directly over your network.

What you need

• An Android phone, version 9 or newer.
• A Windows PC, 10 or 11.
• Both on the same Wi-Fi. Same network, not the same account or the same brand.

The PC server

Download the installer and run it. It installs for your user alone, so Windows never asks for administrator rights, and it adds no service and no driver. When it starts you get a microphone icon in the tray. That is the entire interface.

Windows will warn you about this file. The build is not code-signed yet, so SmartScreen shows an unknown-publisher notice. Click "More info", then "Run anyway". If you would rather verify than trust, the download page lists the SHA-256 of the installer, and the source is public so you can build it yourself instead.

The phone app

Open the download page on the phone and tap the APK. Android asks once whether your browser may install applications; that permission is what makes installing outside the Play Store possible at all.

Pairing

1. On the PC, right click the tray icon and choose Pair device. A window shows a six-digit code, good for two minutes.
2. On the phone, open the app and let it look for computers. It asks the local network and lists what answers, so there is no IP address to type.
3. Pick your computer, enter the code.

That hands the phone a key. From then on they recognise each other silently, and the phone reconnects whenever you open it on the same network.

Dictating

Click into wherever the text should go: a document, a browser field, a chat box, a terminal. Tap the wave on the phone and talk. The words appear at the cursor.

Speak as you would to someone taking notes. Normal pace, normal volume. The microphone is next to your mouth, so there is no reason to raise your voice.

When something is wrong

The phone does not see the PC. They are on different networks. Guest Wi-Fi, a router that isolates its bands, or a VPN running on the phone. Put both on the same one, or add the PC by IP address by hand.

The code is refused. Codes last two minutes and work once. Open a new one.

Text lands in the wrong window. The server types wherever focus is at that instant, exactly like a keyboard. Click into the field first.

The phone says connected but nothing is typed. Check the tray icon is still there. If the server was closed the pairing survives but has nowhere to deliver; start it and the phone reconnects.