The short answer: use the lightest enhancement that matches the destination. Quick personal notes need less cleanup. Work messages, documents, AI prompts, and translated text benefit from stronger processing.
Enhancement settings are not a contest to turn everything on. The right mode depends on what the text is for.
Quick Decision Table
| What you are dictating | Best setting |
|---|---|
| Personal reminder | Basic cleanup only |
| Slack or email reply | AI cleanup plus custom vocabulary |
| Rambling voice memo | AI cleanup plus content organization |
| Long document section | Content organization plus custom vocabulary |
| Technical prompt or code note | Software Development profile plus custom vocabulary |
| Non-English speech for English output | Auto-Translation plus cleanup |
| Heated message | AI cleanup plus optional profanity filter |
Use Basic Cleanup for Short Notes
For personal reminders, quick ideas, and rough notes, keep processing simple. You mainly need punctuation, filler removal, and readable sentence breaks. Too much restructuring can make a private note feel over-edited.
Use Content Organization for Messy or Long Speech
If you are explaining several points in one recording, Content Organization is the useful layer. It groups related ideas, adds paragraph breaks, and makes the result easier to scan.
Use it for meeting takeaways, article sections, brainstorms, project notes, and long voice memos.
Use Custom Vocabulary When Names Matter
Turn on custom vocabulary for any work where spelling matters: people, clients, products, project names, acronyms, APIs, repo names, and internal tools.
If you correct the same word twice, add it to vocabulary.
Use Auto-Translation When English Is the Destination
If you are speaking another language but the output needs to be English, enable Auto-Translation. This is especially useful for AI prompts and international team communication.
Disable it when you want to preserve the original language.
Use Software Development Profile for Code-Adjacent Speech
On Pro, use the Software Development profile when you dictate about code, CLI flags, APIs, stack traces, libraries, variable names, or architecture. Pair it with custom vocabulary for internal service names.
Do This Now
Pick one real message you need to send. Dictate it once with basic cleanup and once with the stronger setting you think fits. Keep the setting that requires less manual editing afterward.