Want to add text to your photos? Here is a list of the best speech to text apps for iPhone which you can use on your smartphone.
These apps allow you to convert speech to text so you can write along with your picture. I personally haven’t found an app that is 100% perfect for me yet but I have found some pretty good ones that are worth checking out.
iTranslate
iTranslate is one of the best voice translation apps for iPhone as it is a good and reliable translation dictionary. Let’s look at the features:
- This app can translate text, websites in over 90 languages.
- It gives you an option to change the voice to male or female.
- You can also switch to different dialects.
iTranslate Voice
It is paid version of iTranslate and has a lot of features and is one of the best apps for translation. Let’s take a look at the features:
- The new Offline Mode features enable you to use iTranslate abroad without paying roaming charges.
- It can instantly speak over 40 languages
- The accuracy of the voice recognition is amazing so you no longer have to type.
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Transcribe
Transcribe by DENVIP utilizes very capable artificial intelligence to provide near-instant transcriptions of your speech recordings. This can take a lot of pressure off for you if you regularly attend meetings, or otherwise need to make a lot of notes that often break the flow of your work.
With its premium model, Transcribe is probably best for people who are using the app for professional reasons.
You can import videos or audio recordings from your iCloud Drive or iPhone into the app, or simply use their native Voice Recorder. With three forms of English as well as French available, Transcribe offers lots of choices in terms of what you can import into it.
The premium version allows you to export dictation files to text, PDF, DOCX, SRT, and JPG, as well as continue editing it in on a web browser on Mac or PC.
Its comprehensive export and importing abilities, as well as its feature of adding photos to Files make it a great alternative to iPhone’s native dictator.
Download: Transcribe for iOS (Free, subscription available)
Apple Dictation
OS: iOS, macOS
Price: free
Best for: Controlling your Mac computer and transcribing short text using speech
For Mac users looking for a way to control their computer with voice commands rather than needing to use a mouse or keyboard, Apple Dictation is the way to go. It is built into the OS, making it easy to get started. This Apple software tends to be reasonably accurate and is based on the same technology powering Siri, Apple’s voice-controlled digital assistant. Meant more for controlling functions and taking short notes. It isn’t capable of capturing longer dictation tasks as an entire document.
Features
- Supports controlling functions
- Involves grid numbering of desktop layout
- Is based on the technology behind Siri
Pros
- Built into Apple’s OS ready for immediate use
- Available customizable vocabulary and commands to allow the program to understand what you’re saying and asking it to do
Cons
- Doesn’t handle longer dictation
- Available for U.S. English only
Dictation – Speech to Text
Dictation is one of the highly-rated dictation apps on the App Store and for good reason.
It has a simple user interface, allowing you to type or speak via the Start Recording button located on the bottom menu. It has an in-built Translation feature, the ability to import recordings to Transcribe, and you can also share it via the app to AirDrop and pretty much any messaging app. You can store text in your iCloud Drive with this app.
It works with UK English, American English, and Spanish. It is very accurate with both UK and American English, with good ratings on the App Store for Spanish.
Finally, its Settings section allows for a lot of customization in the visuals of the interface.
Dictation’s offering of translation, customization options, and its dedicated help section make it a worthy alternative to iPhone’s native dictator.
Download: Dictation for iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)
SayHi Translate
SayHi Translate is one of the best translation apps for iPhone as it provides accurate speech recognition. Let’s take a look at the features:
- It can translate to and from 50+ languages.
- It allows you to not only switch languages quickly but also choose male or female voices and speed up or slow down the rate of speech according to your preference.
- It has a simpler interface which makes it easy to use.
Scribe
Scribe is a relatively new app, but its seek, calming UI, and less-is-more approach make it a worthy consideration for your dictator app of choice.
As you make a voice recording, its AI will turn it into text. When you’ve finished and saved your recording, you can swipe left on it to bring up some options such as Export, Rename, and Delete.
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Its export feature allows all the main messaging apps and the built-in Files app. Keeping all voice recordings that you created via dictation can help with self-organization. For instance, knowing that all meetings where you need to use dictation can be kept within the Scribe app. This is a plus against the iPhone’s native dictator, which simply works with the keyboard and doesn’t have a dedicated library of files.
Download: Scribe for iOS (Free)
Otter
Otter is the clear winner on this list for UI, and it’s not hard to see how this app has some of the best ratings out of the dictation apps available on the App Store. Its Recorder allows for photos to be added in, and you can also invite someone via a link to edit, comment, or simply view the recording.
It has a feature that lets you sync it up to your calendars so that you can make a reminder while in a meeting for a follow-up.
It’s also pretty generous with its free Basic plan, allowing 600 minutes of usage before you’ll need to pay to continue using the app.
Otter offers the ability to filter recordings into Groups or Folders, with a dedicated tab for the recordings that have been Shared with You by others. Its Import feature seamlessly syncs with iCloud Drive.
Download: Otter for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Temi Record and Transcribe App
The Temi Record and Transcribe app offers real-time, live transcription as you record. Live transcription is provided by world-class AI speech recognition technology with 80-85 percent accuracy. Live transcription is available at a straightforward rate, charged per audio minute. You can access the final transcripts and order a “second-pass transcript” to improve accuracy and obtain downloading and sharing capabilities.
Evernote
Evernote is a note-taking app that offers simple speech-to-text capabilities. You can record audio directly into the app, and AI technology will automatically produce a transcript of your speech. This option is great if you use Evernote to keep your notes and documents organized. However, the quality of the speech-to-text technology is somewhat low, making Evernote a better option for personal use.
Rev Call Recorder
Rev’s free Call Recorder app is a great option if you want to transcribe a phone conversation. The call recorder allows you to record your phone call on the app, and then send the audio file to Rev directly. Rev’s leading speech-to-text AI and human professionals ensure that your transcripts are delivered quickly and 99 percent accurate. DOWNLOAD REV CALL RECORDER FOR FREE
Dragon by Nuance (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows)
In 1990, Dragon Dictate emerged as the first dictation software. Thirty years later, we have Dragon by Nuance, a leader in the industry and a distant cousin of that first iteration. With a variety of software packages and mobile apps for different use cases (Dragon Legal, Dragon Medical, Dragon Professional), Dragon can handle specialized industry vocabulary, and it comes with excellent features, such as the ability to transcribe text from an audio file you upload.
For this test, I used Dragon Anywhere, Nuance’s mobile app, as it’s the only version—among otherwise expensive packages—available with a free trial. It includes lots of features not found in the others, like Words, which lets you add words that would be difficult to recognize and spell out. For example, if you live on Eichhorn St., Dragon will hear this as “I corn.” To avoid this, add it to Words and say the word (into the microphone) so you train the software.
It also provides shortcuts. If you wanted to shorten your entire address to one word, go to Auto-Text, give it a name (“address”), and type in your address: 1000 Eichhorn St., Davenport, IA 52722 and hit Save. The next time you dictate and say “address,” you’ll get the entire thing. Press the comment bubble icon to see text commands while you’re dictating, or say “What can I say?” and the command menu pops up.
Once you complete a dictation, you can email, share (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox), open in Word, or save to Evernote. You can perform these actions manually or by voice command (e.g., “save to Evernote.”) Once you name it, it automatically saves in Documents for later review or sharing. Accuracy, as expected, is excellent. In my second test, it flubbed just six words out of 200, and it was the only app that correctly capitalized IT (information technology).
Dragon by Nuance price: $14.99/month for Dragon Anywhere (iOS and Android); from $150 to $500 for desktop packages
Dragon by Nuance accuracy: Dragon Anywhere had a 97% accuracy rate on my second test for the 200-word script.
Recommendation: Because Dragon is a relatively large investment, you should be seriously committed to using dictation regularly. We recommend trying Dragon Anywhere for a month to see how you like it.
Dragon by Nuance supported languages: Dragon Anywhere is available in English and German. Dragon desktop products are available in several languages, which vary by version, and include Dutch, English, French, German,
Gboard (Android, iOS)
Google’s excellent Gboard app works with both Android and iOS—and includes dictation. To use it, go anywhere you can type (email, browser, text, document), and the keyboard will pop up. Tap the microphone icon at the top right of the keyboard, and start speaking when prompted. It will very quickly capture your voice into text as fast as you’re able to talk. It’s scary how fast it transcribes. Not only that, it’s highly accurate. If you stop speaking for about 10 seconds, the microphone turns off, so you’ll have to tap it again.
You have the option to personalize the app, which allows Gboard to recognize your voice usage patterns and improve on them, increasing accuracy over time. I’ve dictated texts in the car with the radio on, and it’s still nearly perfect. It’s also good at detecting and not including stammers, likely as a result of learning my speech patterns.
Note: I’ve been using Gboard for about five years, so it has learned my voice and speech patterns. It’s not surprising that it was the most accurate in my test.
Gboard price: Free
Gboard accuracy: In transcribing a 200-word passage, Gboard made just two errors.
Recommendation: Gboard spits out your words on screen as fast as you can say them. For faster talkers, that will feel just right, but for others, it may take getting used to. If you want to dictate texts, emails, or any other short note, use Gboard.
Gboard supported languages: Not counting different dialects separately, Gboard supports 47 languages: Afrikaans, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, and Zulu.
Conclusion
There are many speech to text apps which you can download to your devices. Some are free while others costs some money. Most of the phones which you have now have these features that converts voice into text.