Whether you’re the writer, the typist or you’re just trying to improve your communication skills, dictation software has become a popular way to be able to quickly and easily dictate text. But with so many brands and products out there, it can be confusing as to which product is best suited for you and your needs.
Thankfully, we’ve taken some of the legwork and done a little research so that we can do a round up comparison on some of the best dictation software options out there. Here’s our list of recommended software solutions:
Voice Dream Reader – iOS, Android
Voice Dream Reader is another great all-in-one text-to-speech app. It offers a reader (text to speech), writer (speech to text), and scanner (text recognition). It’s available for Android and Apple phones, smartphones, and tablets.
For text-to-speech conversion, the app sports 186 built-in voices across 30 languages. Use the app to read articles anytime, anywhere. Upload articles or documents from cloud solutions like Dropbox, Google Cloud, and Evernote.
To make the experience better, the Voice Dream Reader app offers features like full-screen and distraction-free mode along with auto-scrolling. You can also highlight stuff, bookmark, and take notes while you’re listening. Dictation is quite reliable and uses Nuance for it.
This is among the best text-to-speech apps available for free. It also offers a pro plan with extra features. Subscriptions include 1-month or 1-year plans. We recommend to also read our round-up reviews of the best dictation software or Nuance Dragon Software.
App Store: iOS, Android | Costs: $19.99. In-app offers | Review: 4.6 ★★★★☆
REKK
If you’re having a phone call that needs to be recorded, for example, it is a phone interview, then this app will be a great help for you. This is a perfect app that turns all the speech from your phone calls into the text (yes, this is possible). It is quite a specific app, but there are for sure people who might need it.
What you need to do is simply launch the app and all your incoming and outcoming calls will be recorded and transcribed (don’t forget that you need enough of the memory space for that). Apart from that, you will be able to share the recordings via online messengers, like WhatsApp or Facebook messenger.
The only aspect that you need to remember before using this app is that you need to inform your mobile operator about the usage of the app and change some settings, otherwise, all the stuff that you do can be not legal.
Amberscript
Loved by companies like Netflix, Disney, and Microsoft, Amberscript provides audio and video transcription services with high accuracy.
It’s an intelligent tool with AI speech recognition, allowing you to turn audio and videos into text or subtitles. With their online text editor, you or their available human transcribers can make the result 100% accurate.https://www.youtube.com/embed/1QGtXfSEA5U?feature=oembed
It’s up to you to choose whether you’re looking to transcribe automatically via the AI tool or with the help of their professional transcriptionist. If you’re looking to complete one-off projects, then it’d be ideal to use the automatic tool, while manual transcription is great when you want to do long-term work.
Moreover, Amberscript has competitive pricing, fast turnaround, and GDPR compliance for security.
Google Docs Voice Typing
Best for transcribing text for free on Google Docs online.
Google Docs had added a dictation feature a few years back in the free Google Docs online application. The dictation feature is currently available only if you use the online app in the Chrome browser. It allows you to transcribe text on Google docs and save the document on Google Cloud.
Recommended reading =>> Best Free Typing Tutor Software
Features:
- Voice dictation
- Google Cloud integration
- Supports PC and Mac devices
Verdict: Google Docs is a simple voice typing feature that is great for people who want to use voice commands to type text. The feature is also available in Google Slide allowing you to enter text in slides using your voice.
Price: Free.
Website: Google Docs Voice Typing
Window’s Speech Recognition (WSR)
Price: Free
Windows users can enjoy this voice to text software that is already built-in in the system and just needs a quick and straightforward activation method to start. Through the Window’s Speech Recognition software, users can convert audio to text on various programs, browsers, or applications. This can be used to open or close programs, set calendars, or even search and start a song. To activate, enter Windows Speech Recognition in the search bar. Go through the steps to help your computer recognize your voice, and you’re good to go.https://www.youtube.com/embed/zN3JBnZ-4gQ
Voice Aloud Reader
With more than 5 million downloads on Google Play Store, Voice Aloud Reader can be regarded as the most convenient text to speech app. The app supports different text formats like PDF, DOCX, TXT, PDF EPUB, AZW, DOC, FB2 ebooks, PRC, OpenOffice Documents, and AZW.
You can also increase or decrease the narration or the playback speed in the app. The most interesting thing about the app is that it comes with a night mode and a sleep timer too.
The night mode helps in reducing the screen glare, and the sleep timer can help you in setting a time interval, after which the app will stop automatically.
Price: Free
KNFB Reader – iOS, Android, Windows
For visually impaired people, KNFB Reader is an excellent tool. It can convert text to both speech and braille. Some people prefer reading or listening; this text-to-speech app helps them read anything they want without looking for a braille1 copy.
The process is simple, take a picture of the text, and select to listen aloud, or turn it into braille. You can also save or share documents in KNFB. While taking pictures of text can be time-consuming, KNFB is smart and takes pictures of text as you turn the page.
The app does not require WiFi to work, which makes it faster than other text-to-speech apps. Features like tilt guidance, the field of view, and advanced speech technology make listening and reading easier.
To top it off, KNFB Reader is a cloud-friendly, multi-lingual, and multi-platform app. It’s available on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 devices.
Store: Playstore, iOS, Windows | Costs: $99 | Rating: 4.0 ★★★★☆
Apple Dictation
Best for transcribing text for free on Apple devices.
Apple’s dictation feature allows you to dictate messages and documents on your Mac devices. You can use this feature with applications where you can type including word processor, social media sites, presentation applications, and others.
Features:
- Keyboard dictation
- Share audio recordings
- Multi-language support
Verdict: The Apple dictation feature is similar to Windows speech recognition. Mac users can use the feature for using voice commands to transcribe text on any application and website.
Price: Free
Website: Apple Dictation
Text To Speech App – Android
The Text-to-Speech App by TK Solutions is a great tool for voice narration. The app’s interface is simple and straightforward. It synthesizes voices in different languages and settings. Users can adjust the voice settings to create even more authentic results.
The app doesn’t provide an option to upload documents but the auto-expanding text box allows unlimited text-to-speech conversion. It is available for free in Playstore and supports over 30 voices and languages. Audio files can be saved in WAV format and shared with friends and family. You can also save text for future use.
Platform: Android | Costs: Free. In-app purchases | Rating: 4.3 ★★★★☆
Nuance
More like a speech-to-text software but also suitable for transcribing, Nuance has many different versions that you can choose from depending upon your needs. For example, it has plans for individuals, professionals, law enforcement, etc.
It’s also a great productivity tool because you can control all areas of it with just your voice. Just say commands, and it’ll obey everything without you having to do anything.
It’s committed to helping you create amazing documents while also taking the pain out of them.
Speechnotes
Price: Free
A very efficient and powerful speech to text converter is the Speechnotes tool. It is easily accessible as there is no need to download, register, or subscribe. By opening the Speechnotes online link on Chrome, you can click on the microphone icon and start dictating to convert audio to text. There are numerous, frequently used commands and shortcuts displayed on the left side of the screen. What’s more, Speechnotes automatically capitalizes sentence starters and autosaves documents. After completion, the text can be directly saved to the local files or exported to Google Drive.https://www.youtube.com/embed/aCs21PsNjNA
Gboard Google Keyboard
Gboard is a free, easy to use text to speech converter made for Android and iOS devices. Gboard was first developed as a virtual keyboard, but its speech input option and high responsiveness make it quite powerful, which is why it makes this list.
Gboard isn’t a transcription tool per se, but it does everything a transcription tool does, and then some. And because it’s a keyboard, it will allow you to type physically or with voice, edit, translate, save and export work on pretty much any software you have on your smartphone.
Some great and useful features that come with Gboard include:
- Use voice command to trigger and input images into text
- Capture audio and translate files with google translate, for more than 900 languages
- Voice-activated web search
- Easy searching with predictive results
- You can share graphics, including GIFs and emojis
- Predictive typing based on context
- Unlike other apps, Gboard doesn’t feature adverts, making it nuisance free when you want to capture files on your mobile devices while on the move.
Conclusion
You may be a master of your vocabulary, but your spelling skills may not always be as refined. So, if it’s been some time since you sat down to write an article or that next business report but you haven’t had the time to keep up on your spelling and grammar, you might want to consider getting dictation software.