Get started on iPhone

Install Scribe from the App Store, add the keyboard, allow Full Access and dictate into any app with the Talk button.

iPhone only.

What you need

An iPhone running iOS 26.
Scribe from the App Store. It is one app with a keyboard inside it.

Add the keyboard

The app’s Keyboard tab has a checklist that ticks itself as you go.

Tap Add NanthAi Scribe keyboard. iOS Settings opens on Scribe’s page; tap Keyboards, then turn on NanthAi Scribe.
Tap Allow Full Access and confirm.
Back in Scribe, type something in the Try it field to confirm the keyboard works.

If Settings didn’t open on the right page: Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards › Add New Keyboard… › NanthAi Scribe, then tap the keyboard and turn on Allow Full Access.

Why Full Access

iOS keyboards run in a sealed box. Full Access is the switch that lets the Scribe keyboard talk to the Scribe app through a container both share on your phone. That is how your dictation gets from the app (which holds the microphone) into the keyboard (which types it), and how the keyboard reads your Dictionary and settings.

The keyboard makes no network requests and nothing you type is collected. The privacy page has the full statement.

Your first dictation

In any app, hold the globe key and choose NanthAi Scribe.
Tap Talk. The first time, Scribe opens for a moment to start the microphone. You will see a navy screen that says Listening and an amber hint pointing at the back control.
Swipe back to your app and speak. Your words appear in the keyboard as you say them.
Tap Done. The text is inserted at the cursor.

After that, the microphone stays ready for five minutes, so the next Talk starts instantly with no detour through the app. A Live Activity on the Lock Screen shows the countdown and an End button. iOS shows its orange mic indicator while the mic is ready; sound is only turned into text after you tap Talk.

The keys

Talk starts and finishes a dictation. While listening it reads Done; the key next to it becomes Cancel, which discards the take.
Refine pill: when amber, your dictation is rewritten into clean text before it is inserted. A Tone chip next to it cycles Natural, Casual, Formal and Code. See Refine.
ABC switches to the full letter keyboard; the Scribe key brings you back to Talk. See The keyboard.
Insert last appears after a dictation and re-inserts the most recent text (kept for one hour), handy if you switched fields. Retry appears if delivery failed.
Delete, Space and Return work like the system keys. Hold Delete to repeat; keep holding to delete words.

Start without the keyboard

The Dictate with Scribe action starts a dictation from anywhere, without opening the app. Set it up under Settings › Start without the keyboard in Scribe, or directly in iOS:

Action Button: Settings › Action Button › Shortcut › Dictate with Scribe.
Back Tap: Settings › Accessibility › Touch › Back Tap › Double Tap › Dictate with Scribe.
Control Center: Add a Control › Scribe › Dictate.
Shortcuts and Siri: “Dictate with Scribe”.

Run it again, or tap Stop in the Live Activity, to finish. If the Scribe keyboard is up in a text field, the text goes there. Otherwise the Live Activity shows Done · Tap to copy; tap it and Scribe copies the text so you can paste it anywhere. The dictation is also saved to the Library.

In the app

The Dictate tab does the same as the keyboard for quick notes, with the Refine pill and Tone chip in the card. Everything you dictate is listed below it, in the Library.

Common problems

Talk says “Allow Full Access so the keyboard can talk to Scribe.” Settings › General › Keyboard › Keyboards › NanthAi Scribe › Allow Full Access.

The app opens every time I tap Talk. The mic went idle. Raise Keep mic ready for in Settings › Keyboard, or leave Scribe open in the background between takes.

A call or Siri interrupted a dictation. iOS took the microphone. Scribe finishes with what it heard; tap Talk again afterwards.