Android smartphones have upped the ante when it comes to live transcription and speech-to-text capabilities. Google Pixel’s audio recorder app, known to be one of the best around, not only offers live transcription but also labels the different speakers in the recording. Samsung, with its latest Galaxy AI package, can accomplish the same feat. The voice typing feature on Gboard is something all Android smartphones can use. But what are the best speech-to-text converters outside of the Android bubble that one can use in 2024? Let’s take a look at some of them.
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In This Article
Dragon by Nuance
Dragon by Nuance is one of the best transcription tools you can use right now. Available for Windows, iOS, and Android platforms, Dragon can do it all. You can convert a voice note to text or dictate the words and let Dragon carry out live transcription. Its speech recognition is second to none. Dragon Anywhere, the mobile app, carefully adapts to the style of your speech and produces live transcription with surprising accuracy. If the app struggles to identify a word, you can always add it to its library. The only downside is that Dragon is not free to use. Its mobile app alone requires a $14.99 monthly subscription after the expiration of the free trial period.
Otter.ai
Otter.ai is one of the most versatile speech-to-text converters that works amazingly well with work-related tools like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Notion, and more. Otter also has a Chrome extension that can join your work meetings to record audio, write notes, transcribe speech, and share it with all the participants. The great thing is that it does all this for free. Its Business plan is suited for larger teams. Currently, Otter is offering a free 7-day trial period for its Business plan.
Speechmatics
If you’ve got a large batch of files that need to be transcribed quickly, Speechmatics is one of the best options out there. You can use its basic package to transcribe 4 hours of real-time conversations and 4-hour batch files per month for free. Speechmatics supports 50 languages and has a real-time latency of less than 1 second. On top of that, this software can come with precise timestamps and divide the transcription into different chapters. You can also choose to summarise the text and go through it via the topic tags generated by the AI tool. You can also check out the paid plans on Speechmatics’ website.
Voice Typing on Google Docs
If you don’t want to install a speech-to-text converter tool on your PC, you can simply use the native voice typing feature on Google Docs. This comes in very handy when you’re on the go and can’t find a stable spot to rest your laptop and type. Google Doc’s voice typing tool is not perfect, but it gets the job done. You will need to weed out the errors once you’re done dictating the text, but for a free tool, this is as good as it gets.
Notta app for iPhone
Apple Dictation is a great tool for transcribing messages in real time, but what if you want to convert a voice memo to a text file? Our favourite app for this task is Notta. Here’s how you can use it.
Step 1: Install the Notta app from the App Store.
Step 2: Go to the Voice Memos app and find the recording you wish to transcribe.
Step 3: Hit the ellipses next to the recording and select Share.
Step 4: Select the Notta app from the list.
Step 5: Hit OK in the pop-up box.
Step 6: Once the voice memo has been transcribed it will appear as a text file in the Notta app.
Conclusion
These are our picks for the top 5 speech-to-text converters for 2024. Apps like Dragon Anywhere and Notta require a paid subscription to work on your device, but if you need to take care of an urgent task you can always use their free trial package. Which transcription app is your favourite? Let us know in the comments!
