Have you ever found yourself needing to speak into your computer, but there is no one around? You didn’t bring your mobile device with you? You don’t want to take the time to open up a recording program on your computer? Or, maybe you simply want an easier way to create your written content.
Well, needless to say, for some of us, it can be frustrating thing. However, technology is technology, and there are some excellent dictation software programs (and even mobile apps) which help turn the head-scratching situation into one of ease and great benefit.
Dragon Anywhere
This is the best speech-to-text software for dictating on mobile devices. It’s also the best choice for Mac users.
Cost: $14.99 per month
If you need a dictation software program for your mobile device, then consider Dragon Anywhere, available through Nuance.
This program has excellent speech recognition capabilities similar to those on the desktop version. Even though there may be a delay in spoken words showing up on the screen, this application is responsive, fast, and accurate. You can also share documents easily using cloud services, including Dropbox.
Here is Dragon Anywhere‘s output for my test (Errors in bold):
The interim analysis by a committee of the European medicines agency determined that serious side-effects of their blood clots are likely to occur in 1/100,000 vaccinated people, the regulator said in a statement.
I currently use Dragon Anywhere regularly via my iPhone 11 as it’s accurate, portable, and fast. It’s my recommended choice for writers and Mac users who take dictation seriously.Pros
- Works well on mobile devices
- Exceptional functionality when compared to other dictation apps
- Works well the desktop Dragon program (if you’re on Windows)
Cons
- Expensive subscription service
- Delay in the spoken text showing up on the screen
- Editing dictated text is a challenge
Windows Speech Recognition
This is the best free speech-to-text software for Windows 10 and upwards.
Cost: Free
If you need free speech-to-text software for Windows, the freelance writer I worked with on this review recommends Windows 10 Speech Recognition.
This program available on Microsoft’s desktop OS. It has solid voice recognition abilities included in the operating system, even if it is not named Cortana.
It’s not always an accurate program, particularly when compared to Dragon, but it won’t cost you extra money. Furthermore, documents improve as the program learns your vocabulary and manner of speech.
Here are the results (errors in bold)
The interim analysis by a pity of the European Edison Agency determines that serious side effects of rare flood clot are likely to occur in 1/10000 fractured people the regulator said in a statement.
Pros
- Free
- Integrates with your existing operating system
- Becomes more accurate as it learns your voice
Cons
- Not that accurate compared to other choices
- Can freeze up if you speak too quickly.
Corttana’s Speach Recorgnition
Dictate, a new project from Microsoft’s experimental R&D group, Microsoft Garage, is launching today to offer a way to type using your voice in Office programs including Outlook, Word and PowerPoint. Available as an add-in for Microsoft’s software, Dictate is powered by the same speech recognition technology that Cortana uses in order to convert your speech to text.
This is also same speech recognition and A.I. used in Microsoft Cognitive Services, including Microsoft Translator, the company says in an announcement about the new add-in.
The idea for Dictate emerged from a hackathon project, notes Microsoft, and afterwards was used internally at Microsoft by over 1,500 employees across 40 countries.
The add-in to some extent competes with other solutions, like Nuance’s support for dictation in Office 365 or Office 365 Online, for example, or even built-in OS-level support for dictation, which is already a feature found in both the Windows and Mac operating systems.
Dictate, meanwhile, only works in Office. However, it offers support for a number of commands, like “new line,” “stop dictation,” and “enter,” as well as other punctuation marks and actions. You can also choose to insert your punctuation manually, or allow the software to do it automatically as you speak.
It also at launch supports more than 20 languages for dictation, and can translate in real-time into 60 languages. This is perhaps its most clever trick, as that means you can speak in your language, while Dictate types it out in another. (To what extent this will work well for longer sentences and complex word combinations remains to seen, however.)
The add-in works on Office 32-bit and 64-bit, and requires that users are on Windows 8.1 or later, Office 2013 or higher, and the .Net framework 4.5.0 or later.
Because it’s a Garage project, it may or may not be further developed going forward. (Garage projects aren’t officially supported products, but are rather experiments.) The app is a free download here.
Speechnotes
Speechnotes is a free and paid online dictation program that allows you to type by speaking.
With speechnotes, you can type with your voice on any, insert long & frequent texts with a single click, use emojis & perform many other tasks across the web.
The software, which supports a variety of languages, can also be used to order professional transcription services that cost as low as $0.1 per minute.
Supported Systems: All systems and internet browsers.
Pricing: The basic version is free and the premium costs $9/year.
What I Liked About Speechnotes
Few Ads: The tools didn’t have a lot of disruptive ads. The chrome extension even removed all the ads that roamed the software.
Fast speech recognition: The speech recognition was quick even though this app is web-based.
Easy to use and versatile on the web: The software doesn’t have a lot of buttons and works on any website and export to Google Drive
My Speechnotes Verdict
Apart from Google Docs Voice Typing, Speechnotes is the simplest online dictation tool that I have ever used. Plus, its premium plan is fairly priced, costing less than a dollar per month. It’s almost free.
Apple Dictation
This is the inbuilt free dictation software for every Mac that allows you to dictate documents. The Apple dictation feature, which is powered by Siri, is activated by pressing the microphone icon on the stock keyboard or by going to ‘Dictation in System Preferences (System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation).
The Apple Dictation feature requires the internet to work and allows you to format and edit your text using preset commands or custom ones created by you.
Supported Systems: Mac, iOS
Pricing: free
What I Liked About Apple Dictation
It’s Free: Another free dictation tool. You’ve got nothing to lose.
Various Uses: You can use Apple Dictation to create emails, type documents, surf the web, play music, and do other tasks on your Mac.
Multi-lingual support: The Apple Dictation software’s enhanced mode supports 20 languages, while Apple’s default Dictation supports 31 languages including Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, and German, among others.
My Apple Dictation Verdict
It’s free and supports a lot of languages, what more can we ask for? You have nothing to lose when you use this tool, so give it a try.
Windows 10 Speech Recognition
Microsoft has been improving the Windows speech recognition feature—which first came with Windows Vista. Unlike the Google Voice Typing tool, the Windows Speech Recognition feature is locally based and works offline.
Supported Systems: Windows
Pricing: free
What I Liked About The Windows 10 Recognition
Hands-Off Control: The speech-to-text feature can also be used to explore websites, manage the desktop interface, or dictate text while filling out electronic forms. It also comes in handy for performing keyboard shortcuts, controlling the mouse cursor, and creating macros.
Intelligent adaptation: The more you use the Windows Speech Recognition, the better it becomes. The tool adapts to your grammar and voice to improve its accuracy.
Multilingual Support: Windows’ dictation software supports various languages and their dialects. It also supports terminology and phonetics used by specialists, i.e., engineers.
Braina
Best for dictating text using the human language interface on any website or software.
Braina is a popular speech recognition software that allows dictation in over 90 languages with high accuracy. You can control apps and transcribe text on any application and website using the dictation software.
Features:
- Dictation software
- 99 percent accuracy
- AI-based voice recognition
- Personal virtual assistant
- Compatible with Windows, iOS, and Android devices
Verdict: Braina is by far the best dictation software available due to the precise voice recognition and AI-based learning. The price of the lifetime version is also affordable for not just large organizations, but individuals as well.
Price: Braina dictation software is available in three versions. The free version has basic features such as voice commands in English, text to speech, play search voice and videos, and search online information.
Braina Pro costs $49 per year and comes with additional features such as dictate to any software of a website in 90 languages, custom voice commands, voice music player control, AI-based voice recognition, teaching custom replies, and mathematics function. Braina Pro has all the features of the Pro, but you can purchase a lifetime license.
Website: Braina
Conclusion
Dictation software is the most advanced means for converting your voice into text. Lately there has been a massive increase in demand for dictation software – it’s no longer a luxury, but a necessity, especially for those who work on a computer all day long. How can you make your life simpler and easier by using voice recognition software rather than using the keyboard? Think on this.