What to do if Galaxy S9 voice typing feature keeps saying permission needed in order to work

Welcome and have a pleasant day to our community. This post answers some questions sent our way by some #GalaxyS9 users during the past few days. The main topic that we want to address here is on how to fix an S9 with a problematic voice typing feature.

Problem #1: Galaxy S9 Plus lags when typing, keyboard app is slow

Hello. I have Galaxy S9 Plus, it’s 3 days old. Yesterday i started having some slight lag when typing and today it is unbearable. I have to type incredibly slow for keys to register. Also selecting apps is affected and sometimes i have to do it twice. But keyboard typing is affected the most. Sometimes having to press the spacebar 7+ times. I’ve tried turning on touch sensitivity, enabling safe mode, resetting the cache partition, and i’ve also done a factory reset. After factory reset the issue persisted. I’m stumped as to what to do now. It’s a brand new device and i’ve only had it 3 days which is highly frustrating. — Stockaaron

Solution: Hi Stockaaron. You did not mention above if you tried to see how your S9 Plus works right after a factory reset, when there are no apps installed yet. It’s possible that the problem is caused by a third party app (we understand you already tried running the device on safe mode but also did not indicate the result). If you did not check this possibility, we recommend that you do another round of factory reset and see how typing works before you install any of your apps. If it’s the same result, or if you’ve already done this before contacting us, then it’s safe to assume that the problem is beyond your ability to fix. It’s a brandnew device so all you have to do is contact Samsung for a phone replacement. If it’s part of your subscription plan from your carrier, try to see if you can let them replace the phone for you instead.

As a possible workaround, try using a different keyboard app. This may work if a keyboard bug is causing your problem. There’s a lot of good keyboard substitutes in the Play Store.

Problem #2: Galaxy S9 keeps crashing after turning on RTL in Developer options

I pressed the Rtl button in developer options and it crashed my phone. nothing loads and i cant use my phone. Only Bixby works and i can’t use it to help me. I can’t use my screen so anything that needs to use the screen is not gonna happen. The only things that i can do with my screen are use edge screen and bixby and the power options but anything else is useless. By the way i should mention that i have andromeda and substratum installed and a theme with it. My device isn’t rooted. I have an android theme installed its called yoru. It is specifically for the Samsung experience (Touchwiz) and i have it themed. I think that’s it that’s the problem i hope you can help me. — Lazar

Solution: Hi Lazar. Try restarting your phone to Safe Mode and see if your phone stabilizes. If if does, access Developer options again and be sure to turn off RTL layout. Here are the steps to restart your S9 to safe mode:

1. Turn the device off.
2. Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
3. When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
4. Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
5. Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
6. Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7. Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.

Alternatively, you can also try to go under Settings (while device is on safe mode) and turn off Developer options. This is useful if you modified other options in Developer options. To prevent having problems in the future, try to change settings only if you know how they’ll affect the system. Developer options is not meant for average Android users and it is, obviously, for consumption of personnel like developers only. If you know nothing about a particular option, try to leave it as it is.

On a final note, there’s always a master reset should you be unable to fix anything after changing an option under Developer options. We just hope you create a backup of your data before you played with your phone settings. Otherwise, they’ll be no way to get them back after a factory reset. To master reset your S9:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
5. Press Power button to select.
6. Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
7. Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
8. When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
9. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Problem #3: What to do if Galaxy S9 voice typing feature keeps saying permission needed in order to work

I recently purchased an s9 and I’ve already had to get a new one sent to me for other reasons. Now I cannot talk in the microphone for texting purposes. It did at first, now it tells me to get permission to use this feature. My permission is  on and I have tried everything I know how. I went to AT&T to see if they could fix it to no avail. The guy there spent about a half an hour on it and tried everything he knew how, and was also unable to fix it. This is a very important feature for me. I really don’t want to have to trade for yet another phone. Please help! — Wendy

Solution: Hi Wendy. To fix your issue, follow our troubleshooting steps below.

Verify microphone is working

Making sure that your phone’s microphone is working is a necessary first step here. To do that, follow these steps:

To record your voice on your S9:

1. Go to the Home screen and tap Apps.
2. Look for Voice Recorder app. If you can’t find it, look for Samsung folder and open Voice Recorder from there.
3. Press the red button at the bottom.
4. Record a short clip of yourself talking.
5. After 30 seconds, hit the Stop button and save the file.
6. Then, listen to the recorded file.

If microphone is working fine, proceed to the steps below.

Clear cache partition

Some bugs are caused by corrupted system cache. To ensure that your S9 system cache is fresh, you have to clear the cache partition from time to time. Here’s how to do that:

1. Turn off the device.
2. Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Bixby key, then press and hold the Power key.
3. When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
4. Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
5. Press Power button to select.
6. Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
7. When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
8. Press the Power key to restart the device.

Clear messaging app cache

The issue may lie on the messaging app you’re using. To see if the messaging app’s cache is behind the trouble, make sure to clear it with these steps:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
4. Select Show system apps.
5. Find and tap your app.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap Clear Cache button.
8. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Clear messaging app data

Another way to deal with your messaging app is to clear its data. This should follow the clearing of cache procedure.

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
4. Select Show system apps.
5. Find and tap your app.
6. Tap Storage.
7. Tap Clear Data button.
8. Restart your S9 and check for the problem.

Clear keyboard app data

Another angle that you need to check is the possibility that the problem is isolated to the keyboard app (we presume it’s the stock Samsung keyboard). To fix any bug with it, we suggest that you return it to its factory version by wiping its data. Follow the steps above on how to clear an app’s data.

Reset app preferences

Apps don’t usually work by themselves and they work with other apps and core Android services in order to perform tasks. To ensure that all core system apps and services are enabled, you want to reset all app preferences. Here’s how:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap Apps.
3. Tap on More settings at the upper right (three-dot icon).
4. Select Reset app preferences.
5. Restart your Note8 and check for the problem.

Alternatively, you can reset your keyboard settings with these steps:

1. Open Settings app.
2. Tap General management.
3. Tap Language and input.
4. Tap On-screen keyboard.
5. Select Samsung keyboard.
6. Tap Reset to default settings.
7. Tap Reset keyboard settings.

Reset all settings

This procedure is separate from the previous one as it covers all settings of your Android device and not just the apps. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. From the Home screen, swipe up on an empty spot to open the Apps tray.
2. Tap General Management > Reset settings.
3. Tap Reset settings.
4. If you have set up a PIN, enter it.
5. Tap Reset settings. Once complete a confirmation window will appear.

Factory reset

Should everything fails, there’s always a factory reset. It’s almost always an effective way to deal with any software bug. Refer to the steps above on how to factory reset. Be sure to back your data up first before doing it.

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