Locating "Google Voice Typing" on an LG G3 with Marshmallow

[mrmeach]

Google Voice Typing is exactly as its name describes:  You are literally "typing" with your voice by speaking to your phone and making text appear in all those places where you would normally have to type it: text messaging, chat clients, and any browser window with blank boxes requiring input.  The KitKat OS (Android 4.4.2 on the LG G3) made it pretty simple to activate it or deactivate it by the following series of clicks:

Settings

Language & Input

Google voice typing

Bang, bang, bang.  Three steps and you're looking at a checkbox near "Google Voice Typing," Clicking the box places a check mark in it, if it is not there already.   Now every app using a keyboard for text entry will display a small microphone key next to the spacebar.  Press that mic and begin speaking your text.  Pretty simple. Or uncheck the box to turn it off.

Not so easy with the Marshmallow OS (Android 6.0 on my LG G3), unless you know where to look:

Settings

Language & Input

Google voice typing (Under KEYBOARD & INPUT METHODS)

But wait, you say, this looks just as simple so far, and you'd be right to a degree.  As long as the feature is "turned on" this is where you will find it.  But there is no check box.  It merely says "Automatic" underneath "Google voice typing."  When the feature is "turned off," however, the entire entry that displays "Google voice typing" with "Automatic" underneath it disappears altogether.  So where did it go?

Knowing where it went will be important, if you want to speak instead of type and happen to notice that the microphone key is missing from every keyboard. To get it back on the keyboards in the LG G3, you will need to wind your way through a not-so-obvious path containing 5 clicks instead of 4:

Settings

Language & Input

LG Keyboard (Under Default)

SELECT MORE (Under Change keyboard)

Automatic (Under Google Voice Typing)

At this point, selecting "Automatic" will change the appearance of that word back and forth from grey (inactive) to black (active).  You want black to turn on the feature again. "Google voice typing" will then appear under Language & Input where it was before.