← Return to Speech-to-text Apps

Discussion

Speech-to-text Apps

Hearing Loss | Last Active: Aug 14, 2019 | Replies (44)

Comment receiving replies
@billgebhardt

Has anyone tried a speech-to-text app? I have downloaded 3 of them and they all have a "wrong word" issue. Bill

Jump to this post


Replies to "Has anyone tried a speech-to-text app? I have downloaded 3 of them and they all have..."

Bill, the speech to text apps are not perfect, but they are not bad. They're definitely better than the captions we see on TV so could be used for that purpose. The most popular apps right now seem to be Live Transcribe and Otter. Otter is available for both iPhone and Android but Live Transcribe is only available for the iPhone.
Tony in Michigan

I concur that Otter is terrific. Very popular here in NYC

Having said Otter is terrific (I meant in its accuracy of transcription), I will say that as ungifted in technology, as I am there are many things about Otter that I wish I understood better, or at all. I don't think there is any such thing as a handbook. Would really appreciate suggestions as to how to learn more about it.I wonder if part of my problem is that I have a PC, not Apple, although my cell is an Apple.

I just went to YouTube and did a search: HOW TO USE THE OTTER TRANSCRIPTION APP, and many videos showed up that will show you how to use app.

Many thanks. Much appreciated!

If you've got questions about speech-to-text apps, @tonyinmi has so much info it blows my mind. Thanks Tony for having helped members throughout the discussion in the Hearing Loss group. I'm glad that @billgebhardt started this specific topic to bring all the advice and tips to one place.

Tony, @imallears @livingat45north @lizzy102 and @maryjax also talked about apps in this discussion:
Live Transcribe Problem https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/live-transcribe-problem/

Bill, which 3 apps did you try and which had the "wrong word" issue?

Glad to help you out Bill (and thanks Colleen for moderating these threads). Can you tell me more about what issues your having Bill? Also, just an item for everyone. With Google, Microsoft and Otter, everything you're saying is recorded and per the usage terms you have to agree to use, they then can make money selling your conversation to others (e.g,, advertisers). Just be aware that everything you're saying is being recorded. The only one that is private and secure that I know of is http://www.streamer.center. It's free to try for the first 30 days, but after that costs $9/mo. That's not a per-person cost like Otter. With Streamer you're encouraged to share your subscription with as many people as you want. It's also for unlimited captioning, whereas with Otter you have to keep track of how many minutes you've used to make sure you don't go over.

Colleen, the issue for me is when I say one word and the text produces something very different, and possibly embarrassing. While using LiveTranscribe, I was demonstrating how LT worked. After bringing it up, I said in a firm demonstrative voice, “Talk” The text showed, “F—K”. That is an extreme example. More frequently I will be talking with someone and the words are so scrambled it doesn’t make sense to the speaker, let alone me. I have experienced this with all three apps, LiveTranscribe, SpeechNotes, and Nuance’s Dragon.

Living…., because Otter was mentioned earlier, I have downloaded it and am giving it a trial. Too early to make a decision. Next will be Streamer.
Thanks to all for your time and interest.
Bill Gebhardt

Streamer is now directly integrated with Zoom, so you can use it to caption your meetings and webinars. Here's the info: https://streamerlink.cc/Streamer-Zoom-Letter

Lots of comments on Live Transcribe not identifying who is speaking. I think Otter does that, and I know that http://www.Streamer.center can automatically identify who is speaking. For a live conversation it shows me the name and a picture of the person that's speaking. In the printed transcript it doesn't show the picture, but it does list the name along side the text of what they said. With Streamer I can also tag the transcript with notes.