Dictation broken after iOS 26.5.2 Update

If your iPhone dictation consistently types "Kruse" instead of "cruise," here's how you can correct it:

1. Train the Dictation System
   1. Use dictation in a text field (like Messages or Notes) and say "cruise."
   2. When it types "Kruse," manually edit it to "cruise."
   3. Repeat this a few times. Over time, the dictation system may learn your preference.
2. Retrain Siri with your voice. Go to Settings > Siri (or Apple Intelligence & Siri). Tap Talk to Siri, then tap Off. Turn on “Siri” or “Hey Siri” again, then ...Change Siri settings on iPhone
3. Add a Text Replacement
   1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement.
   2. Tap the + button to add a new replacement.
   3. In the Phrase field, type "cruise."
   4. In the Shortcut field, type "Kruse."
   5. Now, whenever "Kruse" is mistakenly typed, it will autocorrect to "cruise."
4. Check Contact Names
   1. If "Kruse" is a contact in your address book, the system might prioritize it.
   2. Go to Contacts and check for any entries named "Kruse." If it's not needed, consider editing or removing it.
5. Reset Keyboard Dictionary
   1. If the problem persists, resetting the keyboard dictionary can help:
   2. Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Keyboard Dictionary.
   3. Confirm the reset. Note that this will erase all custom words learned by the keyboard.
6. Enable Siri Pronunciation Feedback
7. If "Kruse" is related to Siri misunderstanding you, you can provide feedback:
   1. 1. Ask Siri, "Who is Kruse?"
      2. If Siri shows the incorrect suggestion, say, "That's not how you pronounce 'cruise.'"
8. Follow the prompts to correct the pronunciation.

amd1 wrote:

After updating to iOS 26.5.2, Dictation on my iPhone (speech to text) has become unusable.

Not every issue an individual encounters on their device can be attributed to an iOS update. If the update itself were the root cause, then every device running that same version of iOS would exhibit the identical problem. In such a scenario, the forums would be flooded with countless posts reporting the same malfunction, creating an unmistakable wave of complaints that no one could possibly overlook. The absence of such widespread reports strongly indicates that the issue is not systemic, but rather specific to the device in question.

i'm going to dictate this reply and I'm not going to edit the imperfections. The problem I have and I'm on iOS 27 now on an iPhone 17e is that there are periods and commas thrown in for no reason whatsoever there are entire words sentences or paragraphs that disappear (at random) I will dictate something and look down and see it is correct and then press send only to see it convert to something quite different than what I said just before the message get(s) sent. Randomly deciding to capitalize words common words because those words are in the title of a company I have in my contacts is annoying. But throwing in random commas and periods when I did not initiate them is causing me to have to go back to typing again. I have the swipe keyboard, but even that makes mistakes now. I think they thought they were getting smart and letting Siri, interpret our voice inflections or pauses to throw in punctuation, but the reality is that sometimes I have to stop mid sentence to think of the Nick's(next) words carefully that doesn't mean I want a punctuation inserted.

Some people have made suggestions that there are settings you can change, but I have yet to find one that works properly. What I want is to go back to a time where the text converted from my voice is put into the body of the Text field, and only punctuation that I specifically request goes into that. I don't want any creative thought on the part of AI!

amd1 ~ What model of iPhone is it?...

Settings > General > About > Model Name

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Hello SravanKrA and thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately the issues you describe are only part of the problem I'm having with dictation since updating to iOS 26 and beyond. This feature used to work quite well for me in iOS 18, which is why I specifically mention iOS 26 in my post.

The issues I have with dictation is not just that it spells words differently to how I'm pronouncing them, it generates completely different words to what I'm actually saying - words that don't sound anything like the word that I am saying. Repeating the words with a different tone and inflection doesn't make any difference, so retraining is not an option. The reason I pay a premium for Apple products is because I expect them to work. I shouldn't have to spend time teaching dictation how to work when it's supposed to do so out of the box, or at least it did to some degree in the past.

I’ve also been having similar problems with predictive text since the move from iOS 18. I used to find this feature quite useful prior to the iOS 26 updates, but now I don't use it at all. It began to suggest words that were completely irrelevant to what I was typing. Then it got much worse. It began suggesting completely different words to those which I typed. For example, I might type the word ‘book’, beginning with the letters ‘bo’. Instead of a word beginning with ‘b’, predictive text would suggest something like dog, or car. Even as I proceeded to type the next letter, ‘boo’, it would then suggest something like ‘goose’. This type of thing became so frequent that I just stopped using predictive text. Again, another feature that I pay a premium for that just doesn't work.

I've tried things like the dictionary reset and various things and YouTube videos which involved disabling and enabling settings related to dictation et cetera, but none of it worked. I've just given up both.

Regarding dictation, I'm trialling a third-party app called super whisper. It's early days, but so far it's been immeasurably superior to Apple's pathetic effort. Why Apple can implement something like this in iOS is beyond me. I shouldn't have to reach for third-party apps to do what Apple promises it's iOS will do, but I'm happy to do so when Apple fails to deliver on that promise.

Anyway, thanks for your help and suggestions, but I'll continue trialling super whisper for now because it's so much better than apple's dictation and I can use it on my Mac as well.

Hi. It's an iPhone 16 pro.

amd1 wrote: "Hi. It's an iPhone 16 pro."

Okay, that's good. ...If it was an old model, I would have had a follow-up qstn about the battery – which, if weak, can adversly affect dictation.

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Battery seems fine. Status normal. 90% capacity.