Hi ChrisRedlich,
welcome to the Apple (user-to-user) Community!
Re: Dictation not working.
Sorry to hear about the difficulties you are experiencing with Dictation.
Am no expert in this area ... so you likely know more about the dictation features. However, sometimes updates introduce new ways of working:
ie: You may want to browse through Apple Support's online articles for iOS 18:
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For iPhone: iOS 18: Dictate text on iPhone - Apple Support
Eg: says:
"Dictation requests are processed on your device in many languages—no internet connection is required. When dictating in a search box, dictated text may be sent to the search provider in order to process the search.
Note: Dictation may not be available in all languages or in all countries or regions, and features may vary.
When using Dictation, cellular data charges may apply.
See View or change cellular data settings."
Also: Commands for dictating text on iPhone - Apple Support
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For iPad : iOS 18: Dictate text on iPad - Apple Support
Commands for dictating text on iPad - Apple Support
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Re: Can somebody please do something about this?
We'd love to help but as Apple users, like yourself, no-one here has access to Apple's behind-the-scenes software engineering. If nothing above has helped, and you still have difficulties, am suggesting you contact Apple's Accessibility Support team to see if they can help:
Eg: See: How to contact Apple for accessibility support - Apple Support
or
visit: Apple's Accessibility Support Website: (info. / support / contact options):
(NB: You can "Get Support" (online chat / phone / email etc.) from the link at the bottom of their website(link below) :)
Accessibility Support - Official Apple Support
All the best :-)