Speech-to-text functionality that lets you dictate text messages, emails and other content you’d usually type is a handy function embedded in most modern smartphones. It can help you save time or get things done, hands-free. Alcatel takes a look at how it works on Android devices.
On your Android device, you can talk-to-write in most places where you can type with a keyboard. If you don’t already have Gboard (Google Keyboard) on your mobile device, download it from the Google Play store. Then, open any app that you can type with and get started.
From there, tap an area where you can enter text. At the top of your keyboard, touch and hold Microphone. When you see “Speak now,” dictate the words you would like to capture as text. Unfortunately, this feature does not work with all languages as yet.
Here are a few ways to get the best results from Gboard:
- If you use it often, the app will learn how you speak and provide better results for you.
- Speak clearly and slowly for more accurate speech-to-text. Blending your words together might confuse the AI.
- Add names, unusual words you often use and other custom words to the user dictionary to personalise it for your needs.
Here are a few other speech-to-text apps that help you be more productive:
Otter Voice Meeting Notes: Otter records and takes meeting notes for you in real time. It transcribes for you, too, giving you a searchable and shareable text document after your meetings.
Google Assistant: You can interact with your phone with your voice, making calls, sending text messages, managing your schedule and drafting emails to your contacts.
iTranslate Translator & Dictionary: With this app, you can easily translate text or start voice-to-voice conversations in over 100 languages.
Don’t forget about text-to-speech, either Google Text-to-Speech can be used by Google Play Books to “Read Aloud” your favourite book, speak translations so you can hear the pronunciation of a word, and more besides.
