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Best services and apps converting audio to text on your phone
Technological advance has simplified the performance of routine tasks. Many people find it quite difficult and boring to write large texts and it's much easier to type them with the help of your voice or upload an audio file into a special software which will make a text document out of it. The result may not be perfect, but it's easier to edit a text than write it from scratch.
Android and iOS mobile device users can use the voice typing feature. There are a lot of apps you can download for converting speech or audio files to texts from Play Market and App Store. Such as:
- Transcribe
- Speechnotes
- Google Keyboard
- iTranslate Converse
- Live Transcribe
- SpeechTexter
- "Voice Notepad”
- Dictate
- e-Dictation
- Just Press Record
Transcribe-Speech to Text (iOS)
Transcribe is an iOS / iPad-assistant for voice to text conversion in real time. The app is also capable to transcribe an audio file from a video. This can be useful, for example, if you want to extract subtitles from Youtube video.
The key features and capabilities of Transcribe:
- Automatic transcription of voice memos into plain texts;
- Full support of almost 100 languages;
- Import / export of the transcriptions into a text editor or your Dropbox cloud;
- Export of subtitles in SRT format.
You can use the app for free during 3 hours per month. When you are out of them, the price list looks the following: 29.99 for 10 hours and so on progressively. The app is only available for iOS. There is no Android version of this "voice notepad".
Speechnotes (Android)
The developers claim that voice typing in Speechnotes is easier and more efficient if compared to other mobile apps. You only have to tap the microphone button in order to launch the process. Neither registration and login, nor Internet access are required.
When using Speechnotes, punctuation marks have to be pronounced. There is quite user-friendly keyboard with punctuation marks to use as an alternative method. Its advantage is that it doesn't interrupt the dictation of a text.
One of the other primary benefits of this software is Bluetooth support. Speechnotes will catch every word as you voice type it via a Bluetooth microphone or hands free headset. Its premium feature is the presence of customizable keys for quick text insertion: name, signature and other templates.
Google Keyboard (Android)
Gboard is an alternative keyboard shell for Android, with voice typing being one of its features. Such type of keyboard is very convenient to use: firstly, you don't need a separate app for converting speech to text. Secondly, this keyboard is always at your hand and it's really much more well-thought-out than the regular Android keyboard.
In order to use voice typing, you should do the following:
- Download Gboard keyboard to your phone.
- Switch from the standard keyboard to Gboard via Android settings.
- Open any text editor or Notes.
- When the keyboard appears, tap the microphone icon and start dictating.
By the way, Google Keyboard uses a standard recognition engine built into Android OS. In the voice typing settings, you can find available for download language packs for offline speech recognition. Open the "All" tab and download the languages you need.
The keyboard is distributed for free and you can download it at:
iTranslate Converse (iOS)
iTranslate Converse is a voice translator which recognizes speech and converts it to text. It supports almost 40 languages and instantly determines the needed direction and converts in a given way. The app is also able to recognize speech even in a noisy place.
In order to start working with iTranslate Converse simply pronounce the text in the microphone and the convertor will do the rest for you. In the end, the software provides its users with full transcription of a monologue or conversation.
Primarily, it's convenient to use iTranslate Converse for voice conversion, but it can also perfectly cope with transcribing.
Live Transcribe (Android)
The target of Live Transcribe service ("Direct transcription") is people with hearing impairment. The app uses the latest Google technology in automatic recognition of sounds and speech.
In order to be able to use the software, you have to activate it:
- Go to the settings on your mobile device;
- In the "Special features" section select "Direct transcription";
- Give all requested permissions.
The software supports more than 70 languages. You can switch between the two languages in a moment. If necessary, you can message the person you're talking to directly via the app. Among the other features we can highlight the capability to enable vibration at the beginning or end of a conversation.
SpeechTexter (Android)
Another efficient way of dictating a text via a mobile device. SpeechTexter recognizes speech with the help of a dictionary. Which contains punctuation marks, phone numbers and phrases. With this software you can write not only a simple message, but also an essay or report.
In order to get started, you have to:
- Download the app from Play Market.
- Select the desired language pack. The program allows you to download a large number of languages from Afrikaans to Korean.
- Tap the microphone and start talking.
Note. SpeechTexter doesn't work without a Network connection. Connection speed affects the quality of speech recognition. The app is quite sensitive to background noises.
Voice Notepad app (Android)
You can download Voice Notepad from Google Play Market. The program uses Google built-in speech recognition tools.
The app supports the following features:
- Continuous dictation mode;
- Autocorrection of words and capital letters;
- Insertion of punctuation marks;
- Recovery of the last voice typing.
Voice Notepad premium version features are the following:
- no ads,
- power saving mode for long-time dictation,
- "non-fading" screen,
- Bluetooth support.
Note. For offline operation of Voice Notepad you have to download language packs. In order to improve the quality of speech recognition, Internet connection is required.
Dictate - Speech to text (iOS)
Free app Dictate relies on iOS built-in voice recognition technology. Made texts can be easily posted on social media or sent by email. The app can be used while driving a car or on the go since it's developed in the way it's able to perform frequently repeated actions automatically.
Dictate supports the majority of the most popular languages and it has no time limits for audio conversion.
Download Dictate - Speech to text
e-Dictation (Android)
Do you remember how you used to write dictated texts in school? Now the app called e-Dictation can do it for you. You only have to download the program on your smartphone via Play Market.
e-Dictation can make the life of bloggers, writers, runners, businessmen and students much easier. In general, the life of those people who urgently need to convert speech to text and preferably on the go.
e-Dictation app features:
- Speech notepad allows to quickly write texts of any volume.
- Editing is carried out directly while recording.
- E-dictation continues to monitor sounds and speech during long breaks.
- The percentage of successfully converted text exceeds 90% rate.
Just Press Record (iOS)
It's an app for recording voice memos on iOS. These notes can be transcribed by selecting the needed recorded audio files. And the transcriptions in its turn can be edited directly via the app and uploaded to the iCloud along with their audios.