Google adds Gemini-powered Dictation to Gboard, which could be bad news for dictation startups

Google announced Rambler, a new AI-powered voice dictation feature for Gboard — its widely used Android keyboard app — at its Android Show: I/O Edition 2026 event on Tuesday morning. The launch puts Google in direct competition with the likes of Wispr Flow and Typeless , a growing crop of AI-powered dictation apps that have built audiences on desktop and mobile in recent years—most of which have yet to establish a strong foothold on Android. Just like other dictation apps, Ramber removes filler words like “ums” and “ahs”. It also understands mid-sentence corrections like, “I am going to meet you on Wednesday at our usual coffee shop at 3 PM… umm, 2 PM.” Google said it is using Gemini-based multilingual models that also support code switching. Code switching means users can move between languages mid-sentence — say, from English to Hindi — and Rambler will follow along without losing context. It’s a capability that reflects how many multilingual speakers actually communicate, and one that most Western dictation apps have been slow to support. The company said that Gboard will clearly indicate to its users that the Rambler feature is in use. It doesn’t store any voice recordings and uses the audio only to transcribe what users speak. …