Galaxy S8 & S8+ VOICE TO TEXT - How to Fix - Tap to Talk Nightmare - Dictating Messages Not Working

Tried using the step by step instructions of a Verizon post to locate this setting in my SPRINT S8+ to try to get the text to speech working but the navigation path was not accurate for my case and probably others (apparently the navigation for the phone is different from Verizon)..

AFTER MUCH STRESS, I FINALLY LOCATED WHERE/HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM!! So happy!

THE PROBLEM WAS:
My previous Galaxy never had an issue, but this one (S8+) came pre-set with this setting that must be turned off - otherwise, you'll go in sane!!
--it brings up a large blue box that says: "TAP TO TALK"
--When I tap, it beeps and activates like it is listening then instantly stops listening...
--After numerous attempts and talking very slowly like a robot, it then will work on occasion..

I was able to locate a page called: VIRTUAL KEYBOARD (has 4 line items listed)
-Samsung Keyboard
-Google Voice Typing
-Samsung Voice Input
-(+) Manage keyboards

When I click on Samsung voice input there's no way to toggle on/off..
It loads a sub-menu with the following:
LANGUAGE:
.. (English) w/ option to (+) Add input languages
OTHER SETTINGS:
..(Hide offensive words) with slide toggle available (which was automatically on)

When I try to slide left or right on that actual line item from the VIRTUAL KEYBOARD list, nothing happens, (no option to disable, remove or turn off)

SOLUTION IS:
To be crystal clear, here's how I accessed the setting where I was finally able to turn it off:
From the top of your phone, slide down to see the SETTINGS (cog wheel icon), click that one!
Then, navigate through the below navigation path:
SETTINGS > GENERAL MANAGEMENT > LANGUAGE AND INPUT > VIRTUAL KEYBOARD

This is where the 3 line items are listed with a 4th line that says "(+) Manage Keyboards"
(When I saw the (+) plus sign, I assumed it meant I could add options to manage keyboards so I ignored what I thought was an adding feature. (Similar to "(+) Add additional language")
ANYHOW -- "(+) MANAGE KEYBOARDS" IS YOUR FRIEND!!

I clicked the 4th item "(+) Manage Keyboards" and this opened a new menu page called:
MANAGE KEYBOARDS (below this, are 3 items with toggle slides) Hallelujah!!!
...Samsung Keyboard (toggle = off)
...Google voice typing (toggle = on)
...Samsung voice input (toggle = on) -- <<< TURNED THIS TO OFF!!! <<<

Navigated back out, opened a text message string, hit the mic icon, and the big blue "Tap to Talk" was gone and Praise the Lord -- it works beautifully again!!
Hope this alleviates much pain and suffering for others...
Chris

I had made a post, i found this but the google voice works for a little while and then samsung voice comes back on by itself which is annoying!

Its like they want to force you to use the samsung voice, but it is no where near as good as google at this point.

Please repost on this thread if you find it switching back or not..

Thank you

Thank you ChrisOK for the details. I tried it too, it was bad news. I guess that's why Bixby was put on hold. I followed your directions and got Google voice back again.
Thanks again.

Russel Shouse, I hope that doesn't happen to me too. Samsung voice is bad news right now on this phone.

Chris you are amazing thank you so much for taking the time to teach us how to do this I II I got this box I just terribly terribly was no good after following your directions this thing works perfect again with the Google voice thank you again for sharing this

Thank you so much for this post. I have an S8+ on Verizon. I hate both the Bixby button (what good is a personal assistant feature you can't use or customize?!?!) AND the Samsung speech-to-text. This helped me disable it, but it comes back ALL THE TIME. Randomly, it seems.

SO FRUSTRATING. I am ready to start looking into AT&T just so I can have a decent experience with this phone :/

Going to AT&T is not going to affect either Bixby or Samsung speech, they're built into the OS not the carrier. As others have noted with this issue, you can install an app disabler from the Play store and disable samsung voice. Whether that will affect other apps is unknown, but its worth a try if it bugs you that much.

ChrisOK I used your method on my Samsung S8plus. Some of the menu headings were different but I found the correct area after some searching. I found Samsung voice to text still on. After turning it off, all works great. If I ever see that blue screen again, I'll know its jumped back into the Samsung program. Thank you for the help. I was going to kill my new phone. LOL By the way I have Verizon

M

Okay Chris I tried your method as I stated above and it did work the Google text to voice microphone pops up and it works 100% perfectly. But since I wrote that post I've had to go through the process of changing it back from Samsung Text to Voice to Google text to voice five times it keeps jumping back and resetting itself. Any ideas how I can keep it as the default program and not have to go in and change it all the time. Thank you in advance

mine has done it continuously since I fixed it the original time there's got to be a way to set it so it doesn't come back

Idk what this post says, but I disabled Samsung voice and use Google.

Package disabler pro is a cheap app or just manually disable it.

I found on another forum the fix for this. Go in to your settings app manager. Have it show the system apps and find Samsung voice input and disable it. mine had two instances of voice input so I disable both of them. Seems to be working fine now let's see what happens. I hope this helps everyone.

Ok tbe fix that I posted up above is working marvelously I can't tell you how wonderful it is not to get the blue screen pop up all the time and it hasn't come up since I disabled those two Samsung voice input apps. The voice to text with Google is approximately 97% correct which is wonderful.

So disabling it in the app manager has worked for me so far. You have to go to the drop down menu and select "Show System Apps" and then you can disable Samsung Talk-to-Speech engine. Thanks to whoever it was on whatever forum I finally saw it on.

Disabled this morning, and it hasn't changed on me all day, and it's evening. That's already 3 times fewer than yesterday.

lol oops I guess I just repeated yours :)

This works awesome thank you

Isn't it wonderful when we can fix our own phone problems and not have to stay on the phone with support for hours when they don't even know what the hell they're talking about. LOL Bravo. I hope this fix helps other people that im sure probably have the same problem

Originally Posted by thespliffpotcast

Thank you so much for this post. I have an S8+ on Verizon. I hate both the Bixby button (what good is a personal assistant feature you can't use or customize?!?!) AND the Samsung speech-to-text. This helped me disable it, but it comes back ALL THE TIME. Randomly, it seems.

SO FRUSTRATING. I am ready to start looking into AT&T just so I can have a decent experience with this phone :/

Apparently it doesn't matter who the carrier is I use T-Mobile and I disable the Samsung voice to text and turn on Google Voice to Text and Samsung keeps turning itself back on this issue I have no fix for as of yet and I'm going to keep looking on this post hopefully somebody comes up with a solution

There's a fix up above under MAS828. post #11 . It works great

You have to disable the Samsung voice input mine had two instances of it and I had to disable both of them. Justice labeling the Samsung text to speech did not help me

Ok I may have found an answer to this problem, hopefully it doesn't affect anything else.
Do as ChrisOk said above but then also do the following.
Go to settings and then click applications, scroll down to messages and click on it, on App Info go all the way to bottom and choose "apps that can change system settings" and turn this off. So far this is working for me. Mine usually after a few times going back into messages would go back to Samsung voice, but this time it did not.

I had same issue on my Galaxy S8. I just went to play store and downloaded Gboard, Problem solved!! Now I am able to switch between any if the keyboards thru settings.

G

ChrisOk,

You are a gentleman and a scholar. I am so glad you got back my old text-to-speech feature. My biggest complaint was everything you mentioned, plus it was incredibly innaccurate, and did not allow for mid-speech corrections or suggestions for what I meant to say. This has massively improved my S8 experience.

I actually registered an account on this forum to thank you! I wish you luck with your life as you have majorly improved mine :D

I have followed instructions . and it works. Unfortunately it keeps coming back. how do you get it to turn off permanently?

Originally Posted by ChrisOK

Tried using the step by step instructions of a Verizon post to locate this setting in my SPRINT S8+ to try to get the text to speech working but the navigation path was not accurate for my case and probably others (apparently the navigation for the phone is different from Verizon)..

AFTER MUCH STRESS, I FINALLY LOCATED WHERE/HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM!! So happy!

THE PROBLEM WAS:
My previous Galaxy never had an issue, but this one (S8+) came pre-set with this setting that must be turned off - otherwise, you'll go in sane!!
--it brings up a large blue box that says: "TAP TO TALK"
--When I tap, it beeps and activates like it is listening then instantly stops listening...
--After numerous attempts and talking very slowly like a robot, it then will work on occasion..

I was able to locate a page called: VIRTUAL KEYBOARD (has 4 line items listed)
-Samsung Keyboard
-Google Voice Typing
-Samsung Voice Input
-(+) Manage keyboards

When I click on Samsung voice input there's no way to toggle on/off..
It loads a sub-menu with the following:
LANGUAGE:
.. (English) w/ option to (+) Add input languages
OTHER SETTINGS:
..(Hide offensive words) with slide toggle available (which was automatically on)

When I try to slide left or right on that actual line item from the VIRTUAL KEYBOARD list, nothing happens, (no option to disable, remove or turn off)

SOLUTION IS:
To be crystal clear, here's how I accessed the setting where I was finally able to turn it off:
From the top of your phone, slide down to see the SETTINGS (cog wheel icon), click that one!
Then, navigate through the below navigation path:
SETTINGS > GENERAL MANAGEMENT > LANGUAGE AND INPUT > VIRTUAL KEYBOARD

This is where the 3 line items are listed with a 4th line that says "(+) Manage Keyboards"
(When I saw the (+) plus sign, I assumed it meant I could add options to manage keyboards so I ignored what I thought was an adding feature. (Similar to "(+) Add additional language")
ANYHOW -- "(+) MANAGE KEYBOARDS" IS YOUR FRIEND!!

I clicked the 4th item "(+) Manage Keyboards" and this opened a new menu page called:
MANAGE KEYBOARDS (below this, are 3 items with toggle slides) Hallelujah!!!
...Samsung Keyboard (toggle = off)
...Google voice typing (toggle = on)
...Samsung voice input (toggle = on) -- <<< TURNED THIS TO OFF!!! <<<

Navigated back out, opened a text message string, hit the mic icon, and the big blue "Tap to Talk" was gone and Praise the Lord -- it works beautifully again!!
Hope this alleviates much pain and suffering for others...
Chris

Oh my Gosh!! Thank you so much, you've eliminated A LOT of stress throughout the day!! Follow the steps and it's Fixed:) Thank-You

ChrisOK...thank you, thank you thank God for you, the
Wind beneath my wings...

I just got the S8 Plus and it does not have the virtual keyboard in...... SETTINGS > GENERAL MANAGEMENT > LANGUAGE AND INPUT > VIRTUAL KEYBOARD. I've set Google as my preferred tts engine. I also tried to disable samsung voice input on apps manager however it is grayed out. Any suggestions? I'm dying here with Bixby.

You sir, are a God amoung is mere mortals!! Thank you!!

Originally Posted by thespliffpotcast

Thank you so much for this post. I have an S8+ on Verizon. I hate both the Bixby button (what good is a personal assistant feature you can't use or customize?!?!) AND the Samsung speech-to-text. This helped me disable it, but it comes back ALL THE TIME. Randomly, it seems.

SO FRUSTRATING. I am ready to start looking into AT&T just so I can have a decent experience with this phone :/

Alright fellow frustratee's... step by step (per S8 - T.Mobile at least)

Settings>Apps>3 "more" dots - top right corner>special access>3 more dots>show system apps>scroll down... a little further... Samsung voice ****put? Toggle blue, to grey!

Hope this helps all that stumble across it! 👍

Originally Posted by Lopezlex963

I just got the S8 Plus and it does not have the virtual keyboard in...... SETTINGS > GENERAL MANAGEMENT > LANGUAGE AND INPUT > VIRTUAL KEYBOARD. I've set Google as my preferred tts engine. I also tried to disable samsung voice input on apps manager however it is grayed out. Any suggestions? I'm dying here with Bixby.

SOLVED IT FINALLY..... THIS WORKED FOR ME.
Settings >apps>more options(three dots)> show system apps>there are 2 Samsung voice inputs, select the one with microphone icon then disable app.

I just downloaded package disabled from play store, then disable annoying bixby then disabled samsung voice text, boom problem solved.

I found the solution goo to apps and find the Google app
and disable an reenable the the mic under permissions this should do the trick if nothing else works :)

Thank you! This was making me crazy! :D

Also, I noticed when you change your DEFAULT KEYBOARD FROM Samsung to Google, MAKE SURE that you ALSO CHANGE the other option under KEYBOARD SETTINGS that says in its description - 'Show onscreen keyboard while physical keyboard is being used' to the OFF position. -TOGGLE TO OFF! Otherwise your Samsung keyboard, although no longer your DEFAULT KEYBOARD, will just continue to override your Google Keyboard, that you just made your DEFAULT and it will all have been for nothing or it will very briefly give you your mic back, but then revert back to Samsung aboard again minus the mic. Well, at least that is what worked for me. Good luck!!! Oh and p.s. I am in a SAMSUNG GALAXY S8+ if that helps!

If anyone on this forum can connect to their vehicle bluetooth device, but find that their voice to text no longer works, I found the trick is to turn off your wifi.

I don't know why Samsung would've set their systems up that way, but after frustratingly yelling at my phone to try to get it to recognize my voice while driving, for safety, it didn't even register.
Once wifi was off, it worked perfectly fine.

Unfortunately it's a flaw with their programming, but that seems to be the workaround for that issue specifically.

ChrisOK, you are my hero!!! Total game changer....thank you!!!

Originally Posted by ChrisOK

SOLUTION IS:
From the top of your phone, slide down to see the SETTINGS (cog wheel icon), click that one!
Then, navigate through the below navigation path:
SETTINGS > GENERAL MANAGEMENT > LANGUAGE AND INPUT > VIRTUAL KEYBOARD

This is where the 3 line items are listed with a 4th line that says "(+) Manage Keyboards"
(When I saw the (+) plus sign, I assumed it meant I could add options to manage keyboards so I ignored what I thought was an adding feature. (Similar to "(+) Add additional language")
ANYHOW -- "(+) MANAGE KEYBOARDS" IS YOUR FRIEND!!

I clicked the 4th item "(+) Manage Keyboards" and this opened a new menu page called:
MANAGE KEYBOARDS (below this, are 3 items with toggle slides) Hallelujah!!!
...Samsung Keyboard (toggle = off)
...Google voice typing (toggle = on)
...Samsung voice input (toggle = on) -- <<< TURNED THIS TO OFF!!! <<<

Navigated back out, opened a text message string, hit the mic icon, and the big blue "Tap to Talk" was gone and Praise the Lord -- it works beautifully again!!
Hope this alleviates much pain and suffering for others...
Chris

Praise the Lord for your willingness to share the solution with all, Chris! Went to T-Mobile store for help and glad came across your post before trying their suggestion to restore the phone to factory setting. Works now, thank you again!

Thanks for the instructions! I was about to give up I'm voice to text when I read this article. Right now it's working like a champ I will be checking regularly to see if it slips back to Samsung which does not work very well.

THANK YOU! I used your steps on my T-Mobile Samsung S8 Active and figured it out. Sooooo glad to have Google voice back. Samsung voice would assume if I stopped in the middle of a sentence, that when I started again, I was beginning a new sentence so it'd add a space and then capitalize the first word. I figure out how to turn the auto-cap OFF, but then it wouldn't capitalize the first word of a new sentence. Google voice actually does all this properly the first time. And it's waaaay better at word recognition. Maybe if I'd used Bixby it would have worked itself out over time but I disabled everything Bixby I could because I hated it interrupting everything I did. My 18yo son thinks it's cool, lol. Me, not so much. (The kids were watching Terminator last night and they wonder why all this AI stuff wigs me out.) :D

Crossing my fingers that Samsung voice never comes back.

I'm not able to toggle off Samsung keyboard. :/

Verizon S8

Chris, I followed your instructions to the letter and my problem was fixed in 5 minutes! Thanks!
Jolie
Philadelphia

Wohoo! Another bunch of satisfied customers :-)
Love this forum!

Do any of you have the S8 on Verizon by any chance?

This is the message I started getting today when i tried to text

samsung voice input currently unavailable try again later

Anyone see this before

ChrisOK, Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! I have been dicking around with this problem in one way shape or another since I bought the phone last April. I didn't have a "General Management" entry in Settings, so this is how I got there:
Setrings > Language and input > On-screen keyboard > Manage keyboards > Samsung voice input, which I subsequently turned off. And just like LisaS82, you have relieved me of an enormous amount of tension. I am very grateful, Thank You Again!

Yes, I have the S8 on Verizon and if you will look at my post below you'll see how to fix your problem! Happy Hunting!

Chris says also toggle off the Samsung keyboard which I cannot do on my Verizon S8.

See this on screen video where I go through the keyboard toggle settings.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/gh4njvp3or...31_31.mp4?dl=0

Fantastic! Can't believe how much better this is! Wish I would have found this a year ago!!! Thanks ChrisOK!!!

For Galaxay S8 follow this path: Settings>Language and Input>On-screen Keyboard>Manage Keyboards>Toggle OFF Samsung Voice

This worked on my Galaxy S9+. Thank you so much! I've had this phone for 2 weeks and I have been going insane with the voice text problems. This fixed it!

Ut just took over my google talk to text cant see to type, don't know how to fix it
Granny

Originally Posted by LisaS82

Oh my Gosh!! Thank you so much, you've eliminated A LOT of stress throughout the day!! Follow the steps and it's Fixed:) Thank-You

No such option as virtual keyboard on my s8. Nor Google keyboard.

ChrisOK...you are amazing. I've been trying to figure out the voice to text on my samsung note 8 for over a month now, Googling and trying to follow MULTIPLE suggestions on the Internet to no avail. Used YOUR steps and it's now working. I've bookmarked the page in case it ever happens again cuz I doubt I'll remember what I did. You really saved people from a lot of frustration.

Originally Posted by ChrisOK

Tried using the step by step instructions of a Verizon post to locate this setting in my SPRINT S8+ to try to get the text to speech working but the navigation path was not accurate for my case and probably others (apparently the navigation for the phone is different from Verizon)..

AFTER MUCH STRESS, I FINALLY LOCATED WHERE/HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEM!! So happy!

THE PROBLEM WAS:
My previous Galaxy never had an issue, but this one (S8+) came pre-set with this setting that must be turned off - otherwise, you'll go in sane!!
--it brings up a large blue box that says: "TAP TO TALK"
--When I tap, it beeps and activates like it is listening then instantly stops listening...
--After numerous attempts and talking very slowly like a robot, it then will work on occasion..

I was able to locate a page called: VIRTUAL KEYBOARD (has 4 line items listed)
-Samsung Keyboard
-Google Voice Typing
-Samsung Voice Input
-(+) Manage keyboards

When I click on Samsung voice input there's no way to toggle on/off..
It loads a sub-menu with the following:
LANGUAGE:
.. (English) w/ option to (+) Add input languages
OTHER SETTINGS:
..(Hide offensive words) with slide toggle available (which was automatically on)

When I try to slide left or right on that actual line item from the VIRTUAL KEYBOARD list, nothing happens, (no option to disable, remove or turn off)

SOLUTION IS:
To be crystal clear, here's how I accessed the setting where I was finally able to turn it off:
From the top of your phone, slide down to see the SETTINGS (cog wheel icon), click that one!
Then, navigate through the below navigation path:
SETTINGS > GENERAL MANAGEMENT > LANGUAGE AND INPUT > VIRTUAL KEYBOARD

This is where the 3 line items are listed with a 4th line that says "(+) Manage Keyboards"
(When I saw the (+) plus sign, I assumed it meant I could add options to manage keyboards so I ignored what I thought was an adding feature. (Similar to "(+) Add additional language")
ANYHOW -- "(+) MANAGE KEYBOARDS" IS YOUR FRIEND!!

I clicked the 4th item "(+) Manage Keyboards" and this opened a new menu page called:
MANAGE KEYBOARDS (below this, are 3 items with toggle slides) Hallelujah!!!
...Samsung Keyboard (toggle = off)
...Google voice typing (toggle = on)
...Samsung voice input (toggle = on) -- <<< TURNED THIS TO OFF!!! <<<

Navigated back out, opened a text message string, hit the mic icon, and the big blue "Tap to Talk" was gone and Praise the Lord -- it works beautifully again!!
Hope this alleviates much pain and suffering for others...
Chris

Solid solution ! "Manage keyboard" was the key, thanks ChrisOK