Added in v0.18.0
Dictation Pad: voice typing that skips text injection
The Dictation Pad is a small Vocalinux window with an editable text box. When pad capture is on, everything you dictate lands there instead of being typed into another app. You copy the text out yourself. Because nothing is injected into other windows, the compositor rules that make keystroke injection fragile on Wayland never come into play.
Who it is for
Wayland users whose compositor blocks or garbles injected text, and anyone who wants to read and fix a draft before it reaches the real app.
How text gets out
Copy All puts the whole pad on the clipboard. You can also select part of the text and copy it like any other text box.
What stays the same
Your shortcut, engine, transcript corrections and post-processing script all work as before. Only the destination of the text changes.
Why the Dictation Pad exists
On X11, Vocalinux types into the focused window with xdotool. Wayland deliberately stops apps from sending keystrokes to each other, so Vocalinux has to go through IBus, the RemoteDesktop portal, ydotool or wtype, and which of those works depends on your desktop. Most setups are covered (see the Wayland guide), but some compositor and app combinations still drop or mangle text.
The pad is the explicit fallback for those cases. Dictation is written straight into a Vocalinux window, so there is no injection step left to fail. Text bound for the pad also lands there even if you switched to another app while it was being transcribed.
How to use it
- 1
Turn on pad capture
Open Settings from the tray menu, go to the Dictation page and, in the Output group, switch on Dictate into Dictation Pad.
- 2
Open the pad
Click Open on the Open Dictation Pad row, or choose Dictation Pad from the tray menu. A window titled Vocalinux Dictation Pad appears.
- 3
Dictate as usual
Use your normal dictation shortcut. Each finished segment is appended to the end of the pad instead of being typed into the focused app.
- 4
Copy the text out
Click Copy All to put the whole pad on the clipboard (the button briefly reads Copied), or select part of the text and copy it with your keyboard. Paste it into the app you are working in.
- 5
Clear when done
Click Clear to empty the pad for the next piece of writing.
In v0.18.4 the switch moved to Settings → Dictation, next to the Open Dictation Pad button. On older 0.18 releases, update first; the changelog lists what changed in each patch.
Settings it touches
| Setting | Where | config.json key | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dictate into Dictation Pad | Settings → Dictation → Output | text_injection.dictate_to_pad | Off by default. On routes every dictated segment into the pad. |
| Open Dictation Pad | Settings → Dictation → Output | (button) | Shows the pad window. The tray menu has the same Dictation Pad entry. |
| Voice Commands | Settings → Dictation → Output | speech_recognition.voice_commands_enabled | Needed if you want spoken editing commands to act on the pad. |
| Copy to Clipboard | Settings → Dictation → Output | text_injection.copy_to_clipboard | Separate option that copies each result to the clipboard. Not required for the pad. |
The switch is stored in ~/.config/vocalinux/config.json. Flipping it in Settings applies to the next dictated segment without a restart. The saved value looks like this:
{
"text_injection": {
"dictate_to_pad": true
}
}Working inside the pad
Editing by hand and by voice
The text box is editable, so you can fix a word with the keyboard between dictations. With Voice Commands on, spoken editing commands target the pad while capture is on: delete that removes the last dictated segment, undo and redo step through the pad's own history, and select all, select line, select word, select paragraph, cut, copy and paste work on the pad's text. They never reach the app that happens to have focus. The full command list is on the voice commands page.
Recent snippets as a second safety net
The tray's Recent Snippets menu keeps your last dictations (10 by default) in memory. Clicking one copies it to the clipboard, which helps when a single segment went to the wrong place.
Limitations and gotchas
- Copying out is manual. The pad never pastes for you. That extra step is the trade for not depending on injection.
- Session only. Text survives closing the window, not quitting the app.
- No always-on-top on Wayland. A covered, idle pad can be shelved by the compositor. Reopen it from the tray. v0.18.1 fixed the pad ghosting away, and v0.18.5 stopped it travelling between workspaces with Settings.
- The shortcut still has to fire. The pad solves text output, not hotkeys. On Wayland the built-in listener needs access to
/dev/input, or you can turn on External Activation (Desktop Shortcut) and bindvocalinux --toggleto a desktop shortcut (toggle only, no push-to-talk). See global shortcuts and Hyprland and sway.
FAQ
Does the Dictation Pad save my text to disk?
No. The pad keeps its text for the current session only. Closing the window hides it and keeps the text, but quitting Vocalinux discards it. Copy anything you want to keep before you quit.
Why does the pad not stay on top of my other windows on Wayland?
Vocalinux asks for the pad to float above other windows and appear on every workspace, which works on X11. Wayland has no always-on-top protocol for normal apps, so the compositor decides. If a covered pad stops drawing, choose Dictation Pad from the tray menu again and Vocalinux recreates the window.
Do I still need IBus, ydotool or wtype?
Not for getting text out. Pad capture skips cross-application text injection entirely. You still need a working dictation shortcut, which on Wayland means the built-in listener with access to input devices, or External Activation (Desktop Shortcut) with a desktop shortcut that runs vocalinux --toggle.
Can I edit text inside the pad?
Yes. The pad is an ordinary editable text box. You can type, fix words and delete lines by hand, and new dictation is still appended at the end.
Do voice commands work in the pad?
Yes, when Voice Commands is on. While pad capture is on, editing commands such as delete that, undo, redo, select all, cut, copy and paste act on the pad and never reach the app that has keyboard focus. Editing commands are English-only.
Try the Dictation Pad
Install Vocalinux, open Settings → Dictation and switch on Dictate into Dictation Pad. If injection already works on your desktop, the troubleshooting guide covers the other paths.