Using Notes in Wispr Flow for iOS

Last updated: April 30, 2026

Available on: iOS (with Scratchpad integration on Mac)

Capture thoughts instantly by voice — from your Lock Screen, Control Center, Siri, or Spotlight — without typing a word. Notes gives you a fast, hands-free way to dictate and organize notes on iPhone.

What it is

Notes is a dedicated note-taking surface inside Wispr Flow for iOS. Create notes by typing or dictating — tap the built-in microphone button, and Flow inserts transcribed text at your cursor position with a live waveform confirming it's listening.

Multiple entry points let you capture notes faster: a Lock Screen widget, Control Center buttons, Siri Shortcuts, an Action Button shortcut, and Spotlight search. For eligible accounts, an AI summary button on each note generates a condensed summary of its content. Notes also integrates with Scratchpad on Mac — open recent notes from Scratchpad, and any note you create there is saved back to your Notes library.

When to use it

Use Notes when you want to:

  • Dictate a quick thought, idea, or memo without typing

  • Capture notes hands-free using Siri — without ever opening the app

  • Start a new note directly from your Lock Screen, Control Center, or Action Button

  • Search your notes from the iOS home screen via Spotlight

How it works in Flow

Overview

The note editor opens inside Wispr Flow with a microphone button for dictation. Tap it to start speaking — dictated text is inserted at your cursor position, and a live waveform confirms Flow is listening. Notes are automatically indexed in iOS Spotlight so you can find them from your home screen.

Key behaviors

  • Cursor-aware insertion: Dictated text is inserted at your cursor position. For new notes or when opening an existing note, the cursor defaults to the end. Tap anywhere in the note to reposition before dictating. When appending to a non-empty note, a line break is added before the new text.

  • Waveform visualization: A waveform animation appears while the microphone is active, confirming Flow is capturing your voice.

  • Dictation controls: While recording, tap Cancel (✕) to discard or Done (✓) to stop and process. During processing, the waveform freezes and a spinner appears until transcription completes.

  • Note titles: Each note has a title field, separate from the body. Tap the pencil icon in the toolbar to add or edit the title. Titles appear in the navigation bar, the notes list preview, and Spotlight search results.

  • Markdown formatting: Type #, ##, or ### followed by a space to create a heading (H1–H3). Type ---, ***, or ___ on its own line to insert a horizontal divider. Ordered lists use depth-aware numbering — top-level items are numbered (1, 2, 3), second-level items use letters (A, B, C), third-level items use Roman numerals (I, II, III), and deeper levels continue cycling. These work when typing or pasting markdown, and are preserved when you save and reopen a note.

  • Read/preview mode: Tap the preview toggle button in the toolbar to switch between editing your note and viewing a formatted markdown preview. Switch back to editing mode at any time.

  • AI summary: A summary button appears on each note for eligible accounts. Tap it to generate a condensed summary of the note's content.

  • Spotlight indexing: Note titles and content are both indexed in iOS Spotlight. Search from your home screen to surface matching notes, then tap a result to open and edit it in Flow.

  • Auto-open on launch: The "Start new note on app open" setting (off by default) automatically opens a new note when you return to the app while on the Notes tab. Toggle this on in Settings to skip the notes list.

  • Note management: Notes are sorted by most recently modified. Use the search bar to find notes by title or content. Swipe left on a note for Copy, Share, and Delete actions. Pull down to refresh and sync, or tap the sync button (circular arrow) in the top navigation bar.

  • Notes list previews: The notes list shows a content preview that preserves markdown formatting cues like list markers. Desktop-only elements such as image tokens are hidden from previews.

  • Built-in dictation: The note editor uses its own dictation controls rather than the Flow Keyboard extension.

  • Delete confirmation: Deleting a note via swipe or context menu shows a confirmation dialog before removal.

  • Auto-save: In the normal editor, changes are auto-saved after 2 seconds of inactivity. A sync status icon (syncing, complete, or offline) appears in the toolbar.

  • Empty notes: If you delete all text from a note and save, the note is automatically deleted.

  • Background behavior: If the app goes to the background during dictation, recording stops and changes are saved.

  • Sync: Notes sync automatically in the background when you open the Notes tab. To sync manually, pull down on the notes list to refresh, or tap the sync button (circular arrow) in the top navigation bar. Notes you have edited locally are never overwritten by a server sync — your local changes are always preserved.

Warning: Notes created via the Lock Screen widget or Control Center open in a full-screen capture view that does not auto-save. Tap Save to keep the note — dismissing without saving discards it.

Best practices

  • Add a descriptive title to each note — tap the pencil icon in the toolbar to set it. Titles appear in the notes list and Spotlight results for faster searching.

  • Use heading shortcuts (#, ##, ###) to organize longer notes into sections as you type.

  • Use the preview toggle to check how your formatted markdown looks before sharing or reviewing a note.

  • Use "Save Flow note" via Siri for the fastest hands-free capture — it saves without opening the app.

  • Tap the AI summary button on longer notes to generate a condensed overview of key points.

  • If your notes look out of date, tap the sync button (circular arrow) in the top navigation bar of the Notes view to refresh immediately.

How to set up widgets and shortcuts

Lock Screen widget

Add the Wispr Flow widget to your Lock Screen for one-tap note capture:

  1. Long-press your Lock Screen to enter edit mode.

  2. Tap Customize, then select the Lock Screen widget area.

  3. Tap the + button and search for Wispr Flow.

  4. Select the circular Wispr Flow widget and add it to your Lock Screen.

  5. Tap the widget from your Lock Screen to open a new note with dictation ready.

Note: The Wispr Flow Lock Screen widget is available as a circular widget only.

Control Center buttons

Wispr Flow offers two Control Center controls:

  • Flow Notes: Opens a new note with dictation.

  • Flow Toggle: Starts or stops Flow recording. Shows a stop icon when active and a record icon when inactive.

To add either:

  1. Open Settings → Control Center.

  2. Scroll to More Controls and find Wispr Flow.

  3. Tap + to add it to your Control Center.

Action Button

On iPhones with an Action Button, assign the built-in Quick Dictation to Notes shortcut directly from Settings — no iCloud shortcut installation required.

  1. Open Settings → Action Button.

  2. Select Shortcut from the list of actions.

  3. Choose Quick Dictation to Notes from the available shortcuts.

  4. Press the Action Button to start dictating — your transcript is saved to Flow Notes when you finish.

Note: When you use Quick Dictation to Notes outside a text field, your transcript is always saved to Flow Notes — it is not copied to your clipboard.

Siri Shortcuts

Three note-specific Siri voice commands are available:

  • "Create note with Flow": Opens a new note and automatically starts dictation. Also responds to "Create Flow note" and "Open Flow note."

  • "Save Flow note": Saves a note entirely through Siri, without opening the app. Siri prompts you with "What should the note say?" and saves your response directly to Flow Notes. Also responds to "Quick Flow note."

  • "Quick dictate to notes with Flow": Dictates using Flow's transcription engine and saves the result to Flow Notes without opening the app. Also responds to "Save note with Flow." Uses Flow's own audio recording rather than Siri's text input.

Additional general-purpose Siri Shortcuts are also available: "Take Flow note" / "Dictate with Flow" (starts in-app dictation), "Quick dictate with Flow" / "Dictate to clipboard with Flow" (dictates to clipboard), and "Turn on/off Flow" (toggles recording).

All shortcuts are available as soon as Wispr Flow is installed — no setup required. Say "Hey Siri, Create note with Flow" or "Hey Siri, Save Flow note." You can also add them to the Shortcuts app to customize their names or include them in automations.

Tip: "Save Flow note" operates entirely through Siri and does not require opening the Wispr Flow app. It's the fastest hands-free option for capturing a note.

Spotlight search

Spotlight indexing is enabled automatically for eligible accounts. To find a note:

  1. Swipe down from the middle of your home screen to open Spotlight Search.

  2. Type any word or phrase from a note's title or content.

  3. Tap a Wispr Flow result to open and edit that note in the app.

Common issues

Quick Dictation to Notes shortcut routes incorrectly when the Flow keyboard is active

This was caused by a routing bug that misdirected dictation when the Flow keyboard was active, fixed in the latest version. The shortcut now correctly saves your dictation to Flow Notes when the Flow keyboard is in use.

  1. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version from the App Store.

Live Activity widget shows garbled text instead of word counts and status labels

This was caused by a localization bug where the widget displayed raw placeholder text instead of translated labels — for example, "wordsTotal 55" instead of "55 words." Fixed in the latest version.

  1. Update Wispr Flow to the latest version from the App Store.

Examples

Dictating a quick meeting recap

You say: "Met with the design team, agreed on the new dashboard layout, next step is to finalize the color palette by Friday."

Flow types: Met with the design team, agreed on the new dashboard layout, next step is to finalize the color palette by Friday.

Capturing a note hands-free with Siri

You say: "Hey Siri, Save Flow note."

Siri responds: "What do you want to say?" Dictate your note, and Siri saves it directly to Wispr Flow without opening the app.

Starting a note from the Lock Screen

Action: Tap the Wispr Flow widget on your Lock Screen.

Result: A full-screen capture view opens with dictation ready. Speak your note, then tap Save to store it.

Capturing a thought with the Action Button

Action: Press the Action Button (assigned to Quick Dictation to Notes) while your phone is on the home screen.

Result: Flow starts listening immediately. When you finish speaking, your transcript is saved directly to Flow Notes — no app-switching or tapping required.

FAQs

Why don't I see the AI summary button on my notes?

The AI summary button is not available for accounts with data restrictions enabled — including HIPAA BAA-signed accounts and accounts with Privacy Mode turned on. If you're on a standard account without these restrictions and don't see it, update Wispr Flow to the latest version.

My notes aren't showing up in Spotlight Search. Why?

Spotlight indexing is disabled for accounts with data restrictions enabled — including HIPAA BAA-signed accounts and accounts with Privacy Mode turned on. If you're on a standard account and notes still don't appear, create a new note and wait a few moments for indexing to update.

Can I use the Siri Shortcuts without setting anything up?

Yes. All Wispr Flow Siri Shortcuts are available as soon as Wispr Flow is installed. Say the phrase to Siri — no additional setup is required.

Does "Save Flow note" via Siri work without an internet connection?

No. The "Save Flow note" shortcut operates through Siri, which requires an internet connection to process your voice input.

My notes seem out of date across devices. How can I force a refresh?

Pull down on the notes list to refresh, or tap the sync button (circular arrow icon) in the top navigation bar. For a full re-sync, go to Settings → Data & Privacy → Refresh notes from cloud. Notes you have edited locally are never overwritten.

Can I access my Notes from Scratchpad on Mac?

Yes. Scratchpad on Mac integrates with your Notes library. Open recent notes from a dropdown in Scratchpad, and any note you create or edit there is saved back to your Notes.

I have a HIPAA/BAA account — can I use Notes?

Yes. Notes is available to HIPAA/BAA accounts and the Notes page is visible in the sidebar. Your notes are stored locally on your device and work normally, but they won't sync across devices. You'll see a notice on the Notes page explaining this, and the manual refresh and sync buttons are not shown.

Limitations and notes

  • Notes and all related features (widgets, Siri Shortcuts, Action Button shortcut, Spotlight) are available on iOS only.

  • Accounts with data restrictions enabled — including HIPAA BAA-signed accounts and accounts with Privacy Mode turned on — have AI summaries and Spotlight indexing disabled. These restrictions cannot be changed by individual users when enforced by an organization administrator.

  • HIPAA BAA-signed accounts can create and use Notes, but notes are stored locally only and will not sync across devices. The manual refresh and sync buttons are hidden for these accounts.

  • Lock Screen widgets require iOS 16 or later. Control Center customization requires iOS 18 or later. The Action Button is available on iPhone 15 Pro and later.

  • Spotlight indexes note titles and the first 300 characters of each note's content. Longer notes may not be fully searchable via Spotlight.

  • Spotlight indexing updates may take a short time to reflect newly created or edited notes.

  • AI-generated summaries are not saved — they are generated on demand each time.

  • Scratchpad integration with Notes (recent notes dropdown, new note button) is available on Mac only.

  • Heading markdown shortcuts support H1–H3 only (#, ##, ###).