Digital notes aren’t new, but dictating them may be

I’ve been travel logging my vacations for over 20 years. I would pack a little notebook and mini pen or pencil and at the end of most days, I would faithfully write down the details of where we went and what we did. It was time-consuming and hand-cramping, but I’m so glad I did it. Reading those detailed accounts brings a lot of joy.

I realized a couple of years ago that I had an easier method of capturing our travels right at my fingertips, or in my fingertips, with my iPhone’s Notes app. It’s not that my travel log wasn’t already in a Notes folder, I’ve used the app for years to organized everything from daily tasks to recipes, but I hadn’t considered using its dictation ability. Game changer!

It takes a little getting used to, but dictating an Apple Note is easy. Let me know what you think!

1. Open the Notes App and create a Note for your trip

If you haven’t used Apple’s Notes app before, it’s easy to get started. Just launch the app and click the pencil icon to create a new Note. 

2. Activate the Microphone and start dictating

Whatever you enter as the first line of the Note becomes the name of the Note for later reference. You can change this at any time.

Here is a list of the commands I use most often:

• New line
• Period
• Exclamation point
• Question mark
• Dash

To create the note below, I pressed the microphone icon to activate it and said the following out loud:

“July 7 comma 2023 dash Monday new line new line nine thirty am new line had breakfast at the nearby cafe period the pancakes were amazing period new line ten am new line walked along the river trail period saw lovely flowers and caught a glimpse of an eagle period”

When you’re finished, press the microphone icon again to turn it off.

For more commands, check out Apple’s Commands for dictating text on Mac. Keep in mind that not all of these work in Notes. If you speak a command and nothing happens, it’s probably because that command isn’t available in Notes. Hopefully, Apple will standardize voice commands across their all their apps someday.

3. Time to edit and spruce up your log

When I get back from my trip, I open the Note on my laptop and spruce it up a bit. The dictation mode isn’t full-proof so you’ll find there are incorrect words and misspellings scattered throughout your document.

I also like my log formatted in a certain way, so I’ll bold titles, add extra spacing and fix punctation.

You don’t have to perform your edits on a laptop, but I think it’s easier than doing them on an iPhone or iPad.

If you’re new to Notes, get started here and explore YouTube for in-depth tutorials and tips.

I’m sure other mobile devices have a similar app and functionality. You’ll need to search specifics on the device you have.