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Google’s new free dictation app is the Willow alternative you have been waiting for

Google launched AI Edge Eloquent, a free iOS dictation app that processes voice locally.

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Google just dropped a new iOS app today with no official announcement. The app, first spotted by 9to5Google, is called Google AI Edge Eloquent. It is an offline-first voice dictation tool that transcribes your speech in real time, automatically strips filler words, and delivers clean, polished text. Google Eloquent is completely free without any subscription or usage cap.

How does Google AI Edge Eloquent work?

You just have to open the app, hit record, and start talking. A live waveform tracks your voice as a real-time transcription appears on screen. When you stop, the app automatically processes everything.

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Filler words like “um” and “ah” disappear, mid-sentence corrections get smoothed over, and what remains is clean, readable text copied straight to your clipboard. Four text transformation tools give you further control:

  • Key points: summarizes your dictation into its main ideas in bullet form.
  • Formal: rewrites the transcript in a more professional tone.
  • Short: condenses down to the essentials.
  • Long: expands it when you need more detail.

There is also a History tab that stores all past transcriptions alongside usage stats such as total word count and your words per minute speed.

Does Google Eloquent app store your voice data?

Unlike most free dictation apps, Google AI Edge Eloquent lets you keep your voice data completely private. A toggle in the top corner lets you switch between two modes. In fully offline mode, all audio stays on your device and is processed using Gemma-based speech recognition models locally. Nothing gets sent to a server.

In cloud mode, speech recognition still starts on-device, but Gemini models handle the text cleanup in the cloud. For anyone in a privacy-sensitive job or just uncomfortable uploading voice data remotely, the fully local option is quite useful.

The app also includes a personal vocabulary dictionary where you can add names, technical terms, and jargon to improve accuracy. You can also sign in with your Google account to let the app pull frequently used words from your recent Gmail messages automatically.

Google AI Edge Eloquent is one of the best free alternatives to paid dictation apps in 2026

The two most prominent rivals, Wispr Flow and Willow, cost $15 a month. Both of them are cloud-based, and they route your audio through remote servers. Meanwhile, SuperWhisper runs everything locally for better privacy, but it costs $85 a year. Eloquent undercuts all three on price while delivering the thing users actually want most — clean, automatic text output with no manual cleanup required.

That said, Google’s AI Edge Eloquent does have one limitation that you should know. Wispr Flow, Willow, and SuperWhisper work across Mac, Windows, and iOS, letting you dictate directly into any app. Whereas Eloquent, for now, is iOS only. An Android version is mentioned in the App Store listing, but it hasn’t launched on the PlayStore yet.

For casual users or anyone paying a monthly subscription for a dictation app simply because no credible free alternative existed, this changes the whole game. It may not dethrone Wispr Flow or Willow for enterprise users who need cross-platform support, but for everyone else, Google just made a compelling case.

Manisha Priyadarshini
Manisha Priyadarshini is a tech and entertainment writer with over nine years of editorial experience.
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