Hi Everyone,
I finally got so fed up with the problem being even worse after the latest IOS update, that I started a ticket with chat support. They ran me thru trouble shooting, then told me that they needed a senior tech to look at it. They offered me a phone call. I scheduled the phone call, and the two techs who attempted to call me kept disconnecting and couldn't hear me. After this, I chatted back to support and requested they set me up an in-person appointment in store, and they did.
I went to the Apple Store, they were so kind and understanding, and one of the guys who worked there told me he ad his wife BOTH experienced this and it was a software issue. They recommended a backup, and to do a "reset" through their computer which includes completely removing the OS from the phone and then reinstalling it from their master OS in their computer there. The way I understood what they were doing, is that it were as if I were building a new PC, and installing windows for the first time ever on a blank hard drive.
They told me that the software that I had even though its the same "numbers" probably has some bugs in it, and it is best to just start fresh from scratch.
When they did that, I was skeptical, but it fixed every single problem. And I notice that voice to text works better than it had before, and that everything is generally quick.
So a complete reinstall of the OS at the Apple Store is what I recommend. It's worth the 3 hours I spent at the store, because I spent way more time than that troubleshooting random ****. And a software re-install and repair is indeed different than just factory resetting the phone.
