Google is letting users create drafts, take notes, and search for email with voice with the new Workspace update
At the Google I/O developer conference, Google announced it’s bringing a voice-based prompting feature to Workspace apps such as Docs, Keep, and Gmail. These features can help you create drafts, take notes, and search for emails.
In Docs, you can create a draft document using your voice. For instance, in a demo shown by TechCrunch, Google showed that a user can fetch resume details from Drive, add event logistics from an email on top of the document, and even include some humorous anecdotes.
Image Credits: Google Previously, users would have to type all this out, and it’s possible that, while typing, they might write short sentences and then various follow-ups, resulting in a multi-turn conversation that took time. Google’s idea is that with voice, you can use long sentences or ask for multiple tasks in one go. Plus, the feature understands when you change your mind and ask for a detail to be changed in the same conversation turn.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that in the future, users will be able to create and edit documents using their voice.
Image Credits: Google What’s more, Google is adding a way to use your voice to dump your thoughts into Keep, and the app will use AI to turn that transcription into a structured note or a list. Note-taking apps like Voicenote.com and AudioPen added this kind of feature a few years ago. Lately, dictation apps such as Wispr Flow, Monolouge, and Aqua voice have built this functionality into their voice-based typing products.
Earlier this month, Google released its own dictation product called Rambler , which is built into Gboard and works across apps.
Loading the player… Besides Docs and Keep, the company is adding voice-based functionality to Gmail . With the new feature, users will be able to converse with Gemini and ask for details like their next flight, code to their Airbnb booking, or time for the physician appointment.
Tech companies are cramming AI into all products and features, and as a result, users are getting attuned to asking lengthier queries.
In some cases, voice is an easier input method to blurt out long sentences and queries describing complex multi-step requests. What’s more, the current generation of models is good enough to understand if users change their mind about something in the middle of a sentence and output the final query accordingly. Google is paying attention to this trend and adding more voice-based features across its apps.
Topics AI , Apps , Google , google docs , google io 2026 , voice AI When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission . This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Ivan Mehta Ivan covers global consumer tech developments at TechCrunch. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web.
You can contact or verify outreach from Ivan by emailing im@ivanmehta.com or via encrypted message at ivan.42 on Signal.
View Bio May 27 Athens, Greece StrictlyVC Athens is up next. Hear unfiltered insights straight from Europe’s tech leaders and connect with the people shaping what’s ahead. Lock in your spot before it’s gone.
REGISTER NOW Most Popular Elon Musk has lost his lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI Tim Fernholz Users turn to jailbreaking their older Kindles as Amazon ends support Lauren Forristal OpenAI launches ChatGPT for personal finance, will let you connect bank accounts Ivan Mehta US orders travelers on Air Force One to throw away gifts, pins, and burner phones after China trip Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai OpenAI is reportedly preparing legal action against Apple; it wouldn’t be the first partner to feel burned Connie Loizos How to turn off Instagram’s new Instants feature and retract photos you accidentally shared Aisha Malik Musk’s xAI is running nearly 50 gas turbines unchecked at its Mississippi data center Tim De Chant
