Why typing simulation can be slow with the wrong keyboard layout

If Vibe Typer transcribes your speech quickly but the text appears very slowly in the target app, the issue may be your active keyboard layout.

This is most common on Linux when using Type (prefers no clipboard) with Cyrillic or other non-Latin text.

What you might see

The transcription itself looks correct in Vibe Typer History, but insertion into the focused app is slow.

For example:

• Ukrainian dictation appears quickly in History.
• The same Ukrainian text takes much longer to appear in ChatGPT, Obsidian, a browser, or another text field.
• English dictation still inserts quickly on the same system.

That usually means transcription is working. The slow part is text insertion.

Why this happens

Vibe Typer's transcription language and your system keyboard layout are separate.

When Type (prefers no clipboard) is selected, Vibe Typer inserts text by simulating keyboard input. If your active keyboard layout can type the dictated characters, Vibe Typer can send normal key events quickly.

If your active keyboard layout cannot type those characters, Vibe Typer needs a fallback. For characters that are not available on your active keyboard layout, Vibe Typer may need to enter each character by Unicode composition instead of sending normal key presses.

That fallback is more compatible than guessing a different layout, but it is much slower because each character requires multiple synthetic key events.

The practical rule

When using Type (prefers no clipboard), match your active system keyboard layout to the language you are dictating.

If you are dictating Ukrainian, use your Ukrainian keyboard layout. If you are dictating English, use your English keyboard layout.

This does not change the transcription model. It only changes which characters your desktop can type quickly through simulated keyboard input.

Recommended settings

For short dictation, switching layouts before speaking may be enough.

For longer Cyrillic or non-Latin dictation, use one of these approaches:

1. Switch your active keyboard layout to the dictated language, then keep Type (prefers no clipboard) enabled.
2. If you want to keep an English layout active, use Plain text paste or Standard paste instead of Type (prefers no clipboard).

You can change this in:

1. Open Vibe Typer.
2. Go to Settings.
3. Select Paste Preferences.
4. Choose Type, Plain text paste, or Standard paste as needed.

Examples

These examples show why the behavior can seem inconsistent:

• Ukrainian dictation with an active Ukrainian layout: usually fast in Type mode.
• Ukrainian dictation with an active US English layout: may be slow in Type mode.
• English dictation with an active US English layout: usually fast in Type mode.

The important detail is not only the language you dictate. It is whether the active keyboard layout can type the resulting characters.

When paste is a better choice

Paste modes are often better when you dictate long non-Latin text while keeping an English keyboard layout active.

Use Plain text paste when you want the safest unformatted paste behavior, especially in terminals, markdown fields, and code editors.

Use Standard paste when the target app handles normal paste well, such as many chat apps, browsers, and document editors.

On Pop!_OS COSMIC or other restrictive Wayland setups, paste modes may show:

Copied. Press Ctrl+V

That means Vibe Typer copied the transcript to your clipboard and is asking you to paste manually. This is the safer workaround when automatic paste is restricted by the desktop environment.

For more detail, see Pop!_OS COSMIC: Why Vibe Typer Says "Copied. Press Ctrl+V" and How Vibe Typer Paste Preferences Works.