The Best Speech to Text Apps for Live Captions & Recording

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”]This post is about the best speech to text apps. That is, apps to be used on your phone for live captions, to change speech to text, in order to communicate (with the side benefit of recording information, conversations and notes).

It is meant to serve as a resource for deaf or Deaf people (hearing impaired, hard of hearing) who need to understand what is being said. It has the side benefit of being helpful to hearing people who want to record information.

This is available in a downloadable PDF for my patrons, linked here.

It’s also at the end of this post for people who benefit from access to PDF’s.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Speech to Text Apps

Speech to text apps – or live captions, auto captions – are useful for pretty much everyone in some capacity.

If you are hearing, they can record your notes, translate content, help with communication.

For us hearing impaired in any capacity – deaf, Deaf, hard of hearing – they serve as a vital communication tool to help us  understand what people are saying. They take the speech (that others are saying) and put it into written form.

Some Pointers on the Apps Listed:

• These apps are linked to the iOS (Apple) store. It is indicated in each app if it is available through Android.
• All of the speech to text apps are FREE, but some of them require a subscription after a certain amount of trial has passed.
• The apps that were created specifically to help us deaf in speech to text are listed first; the apps that were created by and for hearing and just incidentally help us deaf, are listed after.

Of the apps listed, I know that Ava, Sorenson Buzz, Otter, Google Live and Cardzilla are very popular with the d/Deaf community. There are many apps that are not listed; I focused on the most popular ones.

All of the apps were installed on my phone and I tried then out before listing.

Speech to Text Apps Created for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing

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Ava 24/7 Accessible Life  by Transcense, Inc (iOS, Android)

Ava is an app designed to empower people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing by allowing to follow conversations in real time. The app provides 24/7 real-time captioning (with up to 95% accuracy, based on artificial intelligence), on your smartphone.

Sorenson Buzz Cards by Sorenson Communications, Inc. (iOS, Android)

Speech to Text Apps Created for Hearing, but Have Use for Us Deaf/Hearing Impaired

These are the apps that were created by or for the hearing community but which prove to be useful for our d/Deaf or hearing impaired community.

Otter, Cardzilla and Google Live Transcribe are particularly popular.

I really liked the displays for the ones with larger fonts (like Cardzilla and Big Note), and loved how easy it is to do more with the application with Google Keep.

Check these live caption apps out:

Cardzilla by Ink & Salt LLC (iOS, Android)

Google Live Transcribe  (Android only)

Available only on Android, but very popular.

Microsoft Translator by Microsoft (iOS, Android, Windows)

Hearo – Live Captions by Thomas Backes (iOS, Android)

This app performs live captioning of speech. To use the app, just hit the microphone button and begin speaking. The spoken words are converted to text and displayed on the screen. To stop the captioning, press the microphone button again. Use this app to help communicate and record what was said.

Big Note by Peter Macias (iOS, Android)

Google Keep by Google LLC (iOS, Android)

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Many, Many Live Caption, Speech to Text Apps

There are way more apps than listed here; this list is an attempt to highlight the best speech to text apps that are free, easy to immediately install and use.

If you know of one not mentioned, or have an experience with something listed, please share in the comments![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”66408″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_border” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”https://www.meriahnichols.com/learn-asl-online/”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

More Posts on Things Deaf-Related

Please note: it does cost me time and money to produce these PDF’s, so I truly appreciate it if you become a patron (- even $1/month) and download the PDF’s (and MP3’s, when I have them) that way.

However, I will always keep these as a free option, for those of you who have disabilities that need that access, and who may not be able to afford becoming my patron at this point.

You can become my patron by clicking here.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Meriah

Meriah Nichols is a counselor. Solo mom to 3 (one with Down syndrome, one on the spectrum). Deaf, and neurodiverse herself, she’s a gardening nerd who loves cats, Star Trek, and takes her coffee hot and black.

www.meriahnichols.com

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