Core Talk Corp

Core Talk adds a keyboard to your iPhone that types what you say, in Russian and in English. Speech is recognised on the iPhone itself: no internet connection, no account, no data collection. The app's own screens are in Russian.

DICTATE IN ANY APP
Switch to the Core Talk keyboard with the globe key, tap the mic key at the bottom right and speak. The text goes into the field after each short pause, with punctuation and capital letters. Tap the mic key again to finish, or hold it while you speak and let go at the end. The cross on the space bar cancels.

RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH, NOTHING TO SWITCH
There is no language setting. Core Talk notices when you speak English and recognises each phrase in its own language; Russian is the default. The first English phrase can take a few seconds while the English model loads.

WORKS WITHOUT INTERNET
Two speech models, one for Russian and one for English, come inside the app, so dictation works in airplane mode and with no signal. Core Talk has no network code: it sends nothing you say or type anywhere, and it never saves your voice. The models are also why the app is large: about 1 GB on your iPhone.

A COMPLETE KEYBOARD
Russian (ЙЦУКЕН) and English (QWERTY) layouts, numbers and symbols, Shift and Caps Lock, automatic capitals, a full stop on double space; ё, ъ, accented letters, «» quotes and dashes on a long press. Hold the space bar to move the cursor. Typing works without Full Access. There is no autocorrect, no word suggestions and no emoji: for emoji, switch to another keyboard with the globe key.

THE MICROPHONE IN THE BACKGROUND
iOS does not let a keyboard use the microphone, so the Core Talk app records for it. So that the mic key starts at once, the app turns the microphone on when you open it and keeps it on in the background, also with the screen locked, for the time you choose in Settings (the gear) > «Держать микрофон» (Keep microphone on): 5 minutes, 15 minutes (the default), 1 hour or «Не выключать» (until you turn it off). The time counts from your last dictation or from when you last opened the app. iOS shows its microphone indicator all along. «Выключить микрофон» (Turn off microphone) on the main screen turns it off until your next dictation. Between dictations nothing is recognised: only the last few seconds of sound stay in memory, constantly overwritten, so that your first word is not cut off.

When the microphone is off, the mic key opens Core Talk for a second to turn it on. Core Talk then takes you back to the app you were typing in or, where it cannot, shows you how to get back.

WHY FULL ACCESS
Typing works without Full Access; dictation needs it. The keyboard uses Allow Full Access to exchange commands and recognised text with the Core Talk app on this iPhone, to open the app, and for the key vibration. It does not store or send what you type. iOS shows the same warning for every keyboard that asks for Full Access. Without Full Access, a tap on the mic key explains how to turn it on.

HOW TO START
1. Open Core Talk, tap the mic on the «Попробуйте» (Try it) screen, allow the microphone and say a phrase.
2. Add the keyboard: Settings > General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add New Keyboard > Core Talk. For dictation, also tap Core Talk in that list and turn on Allow Full Access. «Открыть настройки» (Open Settings) in the app takes you most of the way.
3. In any app, switch to Core Talk with the globe key and tap the mic key.

ALSO IN THE APP
• Pause length: 0.5, 1 or 2 seconds of silence end a phrase.
• Your own dictionary: replacements for names, terms and abbreviations.
• An optional copy of each result to the clipboard, on this iPhone only, for 10 minutes.
• Counts of the words and minutes you have dictated, kept on the phone.

No ads, no in-app purchases, no subscription. iPhone only, iOS 18 or later. Recognition is done by a neural network and can make mistakes: read important messages before you send them.