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Best Speech to Text App for iPhone in 2020 (free) - Blog
Did you ever wonder if they were an iPhone application that was able to record and transcribe the audio into text at the same time?
Did you ever wonder if there was an iPhone application that was able to record and transcribe the audio into text at the same time? Recently I had to conduct an interview outside of the office, so I did some research. I took my iPhone and I typed "Speech to text" in the search bar of the App Store (you could also type "Talk to text" or "Voice to text", it works the same way). I tested 7 applications in total and listed them all in this article.
What is the best Speech to text app for iPhone?
In an episode of Madmen (great show by the way), one of the main characters is recording notes from himself with an old 60's microphone and sends it to his secretary for transcription. The show would have been quite different with iPhones & computers don't you think? Here's the list of all the Speech to text apps that I tested:
Out of all the iPhone applications that I tried, some of them have very interesting points and are adapted to different situations and context. There is a certain satisfaction in "seeing your own voice" transcribed (almost) perfectly into text.
Here's the list of the best Speech to text app for iPhone iOS
Transcribe (The simplest one)
Transcribe is one of the first applications that you will see on the App Store. Out of the 7 Speech to Text apps I tested, Transcribe was by far one of the simplest. The interface is very graphic and intuitive.
Pros ✅
Import short video from your phone
Great interface, really simple to use
Large set of languages
Cons ❌
No live recording
No integration with Google Drive, Dropbox etc.
Transcribe Live (Best for live recording)
Transcribe live app is optimised for live recording only. There is kind of a "Wow effect" to see the text appearing on the app while you are dictating. But don't be disturb! Otherwise your text is going to be affect by the background noise.
Pros ✅
Great for live recording!
Font size management
Speakers management
Cons ❌
Only 8 languages
Can't import files
Speechy (The most complete)
On all the 7 Speech to text applications I tried, Speechy is maybe the most complete one. You can either import an audio file or a live recording there are multiple options in the settings and a translation module.
Pros ✅
A large set of parameters
Integrated with Google translate
Cons ❌
Interface not very intuitive
Voice to text Pro (The straightest to the point)
Voice to text pro is a very good balance between a very simple app with six buttons and complete features. There is a large set of languages managed and there is a dark theme! A Speech to Text iOS app with a dark theme, what else?
Pros ✅
A good balance between complex and simple to use
Large set of languages
There is a Dark theme <3
Cons ❌
Not a lot of setting options
Translate (The international)
Did you ever dream of having an app that could translate what you said in real time? Well, that's kind of what Translate is trying to accomplish, and it works pretty well!
Pros ✅
Optimise for translation
Great for live recording/translation
Cons ❌
Complexe interface (ugly?)
Can't import file
Transcribe (The most effective)
I really liked this one as well; the interface is very well done. It's clear, you can either import a file or do a live recording. If you interview someone in Spanish or English this Speech to Text app will definitely be your best choice!
Pros ✅
Super interface
Live & import
Export in PDF,TXT, RTF
Cons ❌
Only works for Spanish and English
Voice recognition (More simple you die!)
This app has literally two buttons!
Pros ✅
More simple you die
Cons ❌
Live recording only
Can't import
Only works for English
All the Speech to Text Apps that I tested had very interesting features. However, the best iOS iPhone's Speech to Text app for you to choose will depend on your needs and the type of files you are dealing with. In my case, I chose this one because I really liked the interface and because my interview was in Spanish.
What if I have longer audio files ? (more than 1 hour)
If you have a longer file (more than one hour), I would recommend using specialised tools. One specialised tool for recording and another one to import your audio file to convert them into text, like Happy Scribe.
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