Google released a new iOS app today without an official announcement. The app, first spotted by 9to5Google, is called Google AI Edge Eloquent. It’s an offline voice dictation tool that transcribes your speech in real-time, automatically removing noise words and delivering clean, polished text. Google Eloquent is completely free, with no subscription or usage limits.
How does Google AI Edge Eloquent work?
All you have to do is open the app, click record and start speaking. A live waveform tracks your voice while a real-time transcription appears on the screen. When you stop, the app processes everything automatically.
Filler words like “um” and “ah” disappear, mid-sentence corrections are smoothed out, and what’s left is clean, readable text copied straight to your clipboard. Four text transformation tools give you further control:
- Important points: Summarizes your dictation into its main ideas in keyword form.
- Formally: Rewrites the transcript in a more professional tone.
- Short: focuses on the essentials.
- Long: expands it if you need more details.
There is also one Story Tab that stores all previous transcriptions along with usage statistics such as total word count and your words per minute speed.
Does the Google Eloquent app save your voice data?
Unlike most free dictation apps, Google AI Edge Eloquent allows you to keep your voice data completely private. A switch in the top corner lets you switch between two modes. In fully offline mode, all audio remains on your device and is processed locally using Gemma-based speech recognition models. Nothing is sent to a server.
In cloud mode, speech recognition still starts on the device, but the Gemini models handle text cleanup in the cloud. For anyone who has a privacy-related job or is simply uncomfortable uploading voice data remotely, the fully local option is very useful.
The app also includes a personal vocabulary dictionary where you can add names, terms and jargon to improve accuracy. You can also sign in with your Google account to have the app automatically retrieve frequently used words from your recent Gmail messages.
Google AI Edge Eloquent is one of the best free alternatives to paid dictation apps in 2026
The two best-known competitors, Wispr Flow and Willow, cost $15 per month. Both are cloud-based and route your audio through remote servers. Meanwhile, SuperWhisper runs everything locally to improve privacy, but costs $85 per year. Eloquent undercuts all three on price while offering what users actually want most: clean, automatic text output without the need for manual cleanup.
However, there is a limitation with Google’s AI Edge Eloquent that you should be aware of. Wispr Flow, Willow, and SuperWhisper work on Mac, Windows, and iOS, so you can dictate directly into any app. While Eloquent is currently only available for iOS. An Android version is mentioned in the App Store listing, but it is not yet available in the PlayStore.
For casual users, or anyone who pays a monthly subscription to a dictation app just because there isn’t a credible free alternative, the whole game changes. For enterprise users who need cross-platform support, it may not dethrone Wispr Flow or Willow, but for everyone else, Google has simply made a compelling case.
