speech to text time

Speech time calculator

Know how many minutes takes to read a text..

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convert words to time .

How long will it take to read a speech or presentation?

Enter the word count into the tool below (or paste in text) to see how many minutes it will take you to read. Estimates number of minutes based on a slow, average, or fast paced reading speed.

Number of words

Reading speed

Common conversions (average speed)

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Speech to Text - Voice Typing & Transcription

Take notes with your voice for free, or automatically transcribe audio & video recordings. secure, accurate & blazing fast..

~ Proudly serving millions of users since 2015 ~

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Dictate Notes

Start taking notes, on our online voice-enabled notepad right away, for free.

Transcribe Recordings

Automatically transcribe (and optionally translate) audios & videos - upload files from your device or link to an online resource (Drive, YouTube, TikTok or other). Export to text, docx, video subtitles and more.

Speechnotes is a reliable and secure web-based speech-to-text tool that enables you to quickly and accurately transcribe your audio and video recordings, as well as dictate your notes instead of typing, saving you time and effort. With features like voice commands for punctuation and formatting, automatic capitalization, and easy import/export options, Speechnotes provides an efficient and user-friendly dictation and transcription experience. Proudly serving millions of users since 2015, Speechnotes is the go-to tool for anyone who needs fast, accurate & private transcription. Our Portfolio of Complementary Speech-To-Text Tools Includes:

Voice typing - Chrome extension

Dictate instead of typing on any form & text-box across the web. Including on Gmail, and more.

Transcription API & webhooks

Speechnotes' API enables you to send us files via standard POST requests, and get the transcription results sent directly to your server.

Zapier integration

Combine the power of automatic transcriptions with Zapier's automatic processes. Serverless & codeless automation! Connect with your CRM, phone calls, Docs, email & more.

Android Speechnotes app

Speechnotes' notepad for Android, for notes taking on your mobile, battle tested with more than 5Million downloads. Rated 4.3+ ⭐

iOS TextHear app

TextHear for iOS, works great on iPhones, iPads & Macs. Designed specifically to help people with hearing impairment participate in conversations. Please note, this is a sister app - so it has its own pricing plan.

Audio & video converting tools

Tools developed for fast - batch conversions of audio files from one type to another and extracting audio only from videos for minimizing uploads.

Our Sister Apps for Text-To-Speech & Live Captioning

Complementary to Speechnotes

Reads out loud texts, files & web pages

Reads out loud texts, PDFs, e-books & websites for free

Speechlogger

Live Captioning & Translation

Live captions & translations for online meetings, webinars, and conferences.

Need Human Transcription? We Can Offer a 10% Discount Coupon

We do not provide human transcription services ourselves, but, we partnered with a UK company that does. Learn more on human transcription and the 10% discount .

Dictation Notepad

Start taking notes with your voice for free

Speech to Text online notepad. Professional, accurate & free speech recognizing text editor. Distraction-free, fast, easy to use web app for dictation & typing.

Speechnotes is a powerful speech-enabled online notepad, designed to empower your ideas by implementing a clean & efficient design, so you can focus on your thoughts. We strive to provide the best online dictation tool by engaging cutting-edge speech-recognition technology for the most accurate results technology can achieve today, together with incorporating built-in tools (automatic or manual) to increase users' efficiency, productivity and comfort. Works entirely online in your Chrome browser. No download, no install and even no registration needed, so you can start working right away.

Speechnotes is especially designed to provide you a distraction-free environment. Every note, starts with a new clear white paper, so to stimulate your mind with a clean fresh start. All other elements but the text itself are out of sight by fading out, so you can concentrate on the most important part - your own creativity. In addition to that, speaking instead of typing, enables you to think and speak it out fluently, uninterrupted, which again encourages creative, clear thinking. Fonts and colors all over the app were designed to be sharp and have excellent legibility characteristics.

Example use cases

• Voice typing
• Writing notes, thoughts
• Medical forms - dictate
• Transcribers (listen and dictate)

Transcription Service

Start transcribing

Fast turnaround - results within minutes. Includes timestamps, auto punctuation and subtitles at unbeatable price. Protects your privacy: no human in the loop, and (unlike many other vendors) we do NOT keep your audio. Pay per use, no recurring payments. Upload your files or transcribe directly from Google Drive, YouTube or any other online source. Simple. No download or install. Just send us the file and get the results in minutes.

• Transcribe interviews
• Captions for Youtubes & movies
• Auto-transcribe phone calls or voice messages
• Students - transcribe lectures
• Podcasters - enlarge your audience by turning your podcasts into textual content
• Text-index entire audio archives

Key Advantages

Speechnotes is powered by the leading most accurate speech recognition AI engines by Google & Microsoft. We always check - and make sure we still use the best. Accuracy in English is very good and can easily reach 95% accuracy for good quality dictation or recording.

Lightweight & fast

Both Speechnotes dictation & transcription are lightweight-online no install, work out of the box anywhere you are. Dictation works in real time. Transcription will get you results in a matter of minutes.

Super Private & Secure!

Super private - no human handles, sees or listens to your recordings! In addition, we take great measures to protect your privacy. For example, for transcribing your recordings - we pay Google's speech to text engines extra - just so they do not keep your audio for their own research purposes.

Health advantages

Typing may result in different types of Computer Related Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI). Voice typing is one of the main recommended ways to minimize these risks, as it enables you to sit back comfortably, freeing your arms, hands, shoulders and back altogether.

Saves you time

Need to transcribe a recording? If it's an hour long, transcribing it yourself will take you about 6! hours of work. If you send it to a transcriber - you will get it back in days! Upload it to Speechnotes - it will take you less than a minute, and you will get the results in about 20 minutes to your email.

Saves you money

Speechnotes dictation notepad is completely free - with ads - or a small fee to get it ad-free. Speechnotes transcription is only $0.1/minute, which is X10 times cheaper than a human transcriber! We offer the best deal on the market - whether it's the free dictation notepad ot the pay-as-you-go transcription service.

Dictation - Free

• Online dictation notepad
• Voice typing Chrome extension

Dictation - Premium

• Premium online dictation notepad
• Premium voice typing Chrome extension
• Support from the development team

Transcription

$0.1 /minute.

• Pay as you go - no subscription
• Audio & video recordings
• Speaker diarization in English
• Generate captions .srt files
• REST API, webhooks & Zapier integration

Compare plans

Privacy policy.

We at Speechnotes, Speechlogger, TextHear, Speechkeys value your privacy, and that's why we do not store anything you say or type or in fact any other data about you - unless it is solely needed for the purpose of your operation. We don't share it with 3rd parties, other than Google / Microsoft for the speech-to-text engine.

Privacy - how are the recordings and results handled?

- transcription service.

Our transcription service is probably the most private and secure transcription service available.

• HIPAA compliant.
• No human in the loop. No passing your recording between PCs, emails, employees, etc.
• Secure encrypted communications (https) with and between our servers.
• Recordings are automatically deleted from our servers as soon as the transcription is done.
• Our contract with Google / Microsoft (our speech engines providers) prohibits them from keeping any audio or results.
• Transcription results are securely kept on our secure database. Only you have access to them - only if you sign in (or provide your secret credentials through the API)
• You may choose to delete the transcription results - once you do - no copy remains on our servers.

- Dictation notepad & extension

For dictation, the recording & recognition - is delegated to and done by the browser (Chrome / Edge) or operating system (Android). So, we never even have access to the recorded audio, and Edge's / Chrome's / Android's (depending the one you use) privacy policy apply here.

The results of the dictation are saved locally on your machine - via the browser's / app's local storage. It never gets to our servers. So, as long as your device is private - your notes are private.

Payments method privacy

The whole payments process is delegated to PayPal / Stripe / Google Pay / Play Store / App Store and secured by these providers. We never receive any of your credit card information.

More generic notes regarding our site, cookies, analytics, ads, etc.

• We may use Google Analytics on our site - which is a generic tool to track usage statistics.
• We use cookies - which means we save data on your browser to send to our servers when needed. This is used for instance to sign you in, and then keep you signed in.
• For the dictation tool - we use your browser's local storage to store your notes, so you can access them later.
• Non premium dictation tool serves ads by Google. Users may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Ads Settings . Alternatively, users can opt out of a third-party vendor's use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting https://youradchoices.com/
• In case you would like to upload files to Google Drive directly from Speechnotes - we'll ask for your permission to do so. We will use that permission for that purpose only - syncing your speech-notes to your Google Drive, per your request.

Speech to Text Converter

Descript instantly turns speech into text in real time. Just start recording and watch our AI speech recognition transcribe your voice—with 95% accuracy—into text that’s ready to edit or export.

How to automatically convert speech to text with Descript

Create a project in Descript, select record, and choose your microphone input to start a recording session. Or upload a voice file to convert the audio to text.

As you speak into your mic, Descript’s speech-to-text software turns what you say into text in real time. Don’t worry about filler words or mistakes; Descript makes it easy to find and remove those from both the generated text and recorded audio.

Enter Correct mode (press the C key) to edit, apply formatting, highlight sections, and leave comments on your speech-to-text transcript. Filler words will be highlighted, which you can remove by right clicking to remove some or all instances. When ready, export your text as HTML, Markdown, Plain text, Word file, or Rich Text format.

Download the app for free

More articles and resources.

New: Free Overdub on all Descript accounts, with easier voice cloning

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Other tools from descript, video compilation maker, business video maker, video brightness editor, youtube transcript generator, article to video, youtube description generator, split-screen video editor, social media video maker, video to text converter.

Speech to Text

• 3 Create a new project Drag your file into the box above, or click Select file and import it from your computer or wherever it lives.

Expand Descript’s online voice recognition powers with an expandable transcription glossary to recognize hard-to-translate words like names and jargon.

Record yourself talking and turn it into text, audio, and video that’s ready to edit in Descript’s timeline. You can format, search, highlight, and other actions you’d perform in a Google Doc, while taking advantage of features like  text-to-speec h, captions, and more.

Go from speech to text in over 22 different languages, plus English. Transcribe audio in  French ,  Spanish , Italian, German and other languages from around the world. Finnish? Oh we’re just getting started.

Yes, basic real-time speech to text conversion is included for free with most modern devices (Android, Mac, etc.) Descript also offers a 95% accurate text-to-speech converter for up to 1 hour per month for free.

Speech-to-text conversion works by using AI and large quantities of diverse training data to recognize the acoustic qualities of specific words, despite the different speech patterns and accents people have, to generate it as text.

Yes! Descript‘s AI-powered Overdub feature lets you not only turn speech to text but also generate human-sounding speech from a script in your choice of AI stock voices.

Descript supports speech-to-text conversion in Catalan, Finnish, Lithuanian, Slovak, Croatian, French (FR), Malay, Slovenian, Czech, German, Norwegian, Spanish (US), Danish, Hungarian, Polish, Swedish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese (BR), Turkish.

Descript’s included AI transcription offers up to 95% accurate speech to text generation. We also offer a white glove pay-per-word transcription service and 99% accuracy. Expanding your transcription glossary makes the automatic transcription more accurate over time.

The Read Time

Words to time converter, accurately estimate talk time for presentations, speeches and voice-over scripts.

Words per Minute:

Not sure about your reading speed? Get it tested with our Free Reading Speed Test

Learn to Speed Read with our Speed Reader

A tool to find out what any word count looks like: What does any word count look like?

Require a sentence count? Do try out our Sentence Counter

Also, convert text to speech with Read My Text

Does This Free Tool Convert Words To Time?

Yes, this tool essentially converts words to time by estimating speech time for texts of all lengths. This is ideal for people who want to calculate talk time for presentations, speeches and voice-over scripts beforehand

How Do I Use This Words To Time Tool?

• If you know the number of words, enter this amount in number format into the text area OR if you have a body of text, just copy and paste this onto the text area.
• The tool will automatically calculate the Talk Time based on your input. The default Talk Time estimate is based on an oral reading rate of 183 words per minute ; which is considered to be the accepted average for adults according to scientific research. Silent Reading Time is estimated based on a fixed reading speed of 238 words per minute .
• Drag the slider to change the words per minute value to see corresponding Talk Time estimates. This will not have an effect on the Silent Reading Time estimate as the reading rate is fixed at 238 words per minute. Slow, Average and Fast reading rates have been denoted in the above table for guidance.
• Press the 'clear text' button to empty the text area and reset the slider to its default value of 183.

Is 183 Words Per Minute An Accurate Measure Of Oral Reading Speed?

Yes, based on a paper published by Marc Brysbaert , the average speed for reading aloud is estimated to be 183 words per minute for adults. This value is based on 77 studies involving 5965 participants. The paper further states that reading rates are lower for older adults, children and readers with English as a second language.

What Is Read Time?

Read time is the time taken for an average person to silently read a piece of text while maintaining reading comprehension. Based on the meta-analysis of 100's of studies involving over 18000 participants, the average silent reading speed for an adult individual has been estimated to be approximately 238 words per minute (Marc Brysbaert,2019) .

The reading time of a piece of text can thus be deduced by dividing the total word count by this value of 238. Below is the mathematical formula for calculating reading time in minutes:

Reading Time = Total Word Count / 238

If the reading material consists of images or illustrations, we can assume that an average reader spends around 5 seconds per image, which is equivalent to 0.083 minutes. Hence, we can further modify this formula as below:

Reading Time = Total Word Count / 238 + (Number of Images * 0.083)

Simple Math Really! 🙂

How Long Does It Take To Read 1000 Words?

Assuming the average reading speed of an adult individual is 238 words per minute, it takes approximately 4 minutes and 12 seconds to read 1000 words.

Reading Time For Popular Word Counts (Table)

How long does it take to read 100 pages.

Assuming a page consists of 500 words, it approximately takes 3 hours and 30 minutes to read 100 pages.

Reading Time For Popular Page Counts (Table)

What is speech time.

Speech Time is the time taken for an average person to read aloud a piece of text. Based on the meta-analysis of nearly 80 studies involving 6000 participants, the average oral reading speed for an adult individual is considered to be 183 words per minute (Marc Brysbaert,2019) . The speech time of a piece of text can then be deduced by dividing the total word count by this value of 183. Again simple Math. 🙂

How Long Does It Take To Speak 1000 Words?

Assuming the average oral reading speed of an adult individual is 183 words per minute, it takes approximately 5 minutes and 28 seconds to orate 1000 words.

What Other Metrics Does The Read Time Provide?

In addition to reading time and speech time, The Read Time provides the word count for texts of all lengths.

Who Is It For?

The Read Time is an ideal free tool for scriptwriters, content writers, educators, students and just about anyone who wants to measure the number of words and reading time for texts of all lengths.

Is My Text/Data Safe?

thereadtime.com does not store or process any text/data on its servers while the computations are done purely on the client's browser.

Speaking time calculator

Type or paste your speech to instantly calculate your speaking time

How does this speech timer work

To begin, delete the sample text and either type in your speech or copy and paste it into the editor.

The average reading speed and speech rate is 200 words per minute and is the default setting above. Once you paste your speech, click “Play” and Speechify will analyze your speech by the number of words and generate a time to speak it at the default rate.

You can listen to your speech in various accents or languages. If you are aiming for a specific timeframe for your speech, click edit to either increase or decrease the number of words to see how long it would take to speak them.

You can also increase or decrease the speaking rate to gauge how fast or slow you should speak in order to get to a specific time with the number of words you have in your speech.

To get to that perfect word count to fit with the speech length time, you’ll have to keep editing between words per minute (WPM) and number of words.

The best part is that you can share your speech in audio format to your friends, relatives, or peers to review it. They can simply click play and listen to your speech.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many words are there in a 1 minute speech.

Based on the average speed of speech, there are 150 words in a 1 minute speech.

How many words are there in a 2 minute speech?

There are 300 words per minute in a 2 minute speech. 2 minutes isn’t a long time so when you speak, you could endure the average speaking rate.

How many words are there in a 3 minute speech?

On average there are 450 words in a 3 minute speech. This is based on the average speech rate of 250 words per minute. At the 3 minute mark, even a novice speaker could keep going at the rate they started – with some practice.

How many words are there in a 4 minute speech?

On average there are 600 words in a 4 minute speech. This is based on the average speech rate of 250 words per minute. Still, even a novice speaker could maintain the 150 words per minute rate. Try it in the Soundbite above. Set your words per minute and speak along to see if you could endure consistency over 4 minutes.

How many words are there in a 5 minute speech?

On average there are 750 words in a 5 minute speech. This is based on the average speech rate of 250 words per minute. While this is simple math, we after all are humans and 5 minutes can be pushing the boundaries of a consistent speech tempo and words per minute.

How many words are there in a 10 minute speech?

In a 10 minute speech aim for 1000 words. The math might tell you 1,500 words but consider your speech. You might need pauses, rest for your voice, dramatic effects, and perhaps even audience interaction. Also, it becomes quite difficult to endure a consistent 150 words per minute speech rate for 10 minutes. Consider your listeners. We doubt very few people would want to listen to a precisely 150 words per minute speech for 10 minutes. It wouldn’t be engaging. And in a speech, you should engage and communicate.

Speechify is the #1 text-to-speech reader

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Speechify Chrome extension

Listen to any text on your laptop or desktop. Read aloud with the Speechify text-to-speech extension for Chrome. ​ 

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Get the #1 rated app for text-to-speech in the App Store. Speechify can read books, documents, and articles while you cook, work out, commute, or any other activity you can think of. 

Speechify Android app

Speechify is a text to speech (tts) screen reader that can read any text, PDF, document, book, email, file, or article online out loud on your phone. 

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Words To Time Converter

Estimate how many minutes your speeches, presentations, and voice-over scripts will take based on your words per minute rate!

Words per Minute: 183

How To Convert Words to Minutes Using This Tool?

If you have a certain number of words or a piece of text you want to time, you can either type in the word count or paste the text into the provided area. This tool will then calculate how long it would take to read that text out loud.

The talk time estimate is calculated using the average speaking speed of adults, which is determined to be 183 words per minute based on scientific studies. If you’re interested in how long it would take to read silently, it’s estimated at 238 words per minute ( This data is also backed by research )

You can adjust the slider to change the words per minute value, which will affect the talk time estimate. However, the silent reading time estimate remains fixed at 238 words per minute. 

For ease of use, we’ve also provided reference points for slow, average, and fast reading rates below the slider.

To begin anew, simply click the ‘clear text’ button to erase the content and restore the slider back to its original setting of 183.

I. Who is This Words to Minutes Converter Tool For?

If you are a student wondering how long is my essay or you’ve been tasked with writing a speech and need to know how many words to aim for and how many minutes will it take to deliver or perhaps you are a podcaster, just starting out, who wants the ability to easily synchronize music and spoken word without having to painstakingly calculate seconds between them, then this words to time converter (or speech time calculator-you may call it if you are a public speaker) is precisely for you! 

From now on, instead of spending long hours in front of the computer trying to figure out how many seconds it takes for one phrase or section of dialogue to end and another to begin, you can let our innovative tool do all the work and convert your text to time quickly and accurately. With this powerful tool at your disposal, whether you’re giving a TED talk or just need to nail a business presentation, your life will become a little bit easier.

So keep reading to learn more about what this fantastic words to minutes converter has in store for public speakers, aspiring students, and professional radio producers alike!

Whether you want to read the text silently or speak aloud, you can use this tool as both:

• Reading time calculator
• Talk time calculator

II.I Explanation of the Reading Time

Reading time refers to the duration it takes for an average person to read a written text silently while still comprehending its content. Based on an extensive analysis of 190 studies that involved 18,573 participants , research conducted by Marc Brysbaert in 2019 suggests that the typical silent reading speed for an adult individual is approximately 238 words per minute .

To convert word count to read time for a specific text, you can do so by dividing the total word count of the text by this established value of 238. Here is the mathematical equation for determining the duration of reading time in minutes:

Reading Time = Total Word Count / 238

II.II Explanation of the Speech Time

Speech time refers to the duration it takes for an average person to read a text out loud. Based on data from 77 studies involving 5,965 people , it’s been found that most adults read aloud at a speed of approximately 183 words per minute ( research conducted by Marc Brysbaert in 2019 ). To figure out how long it will take to read a specific piece of text aloud, you can divide the total number of words in the text by this average rate of 183 words per minute.

Of course, it’s important to note that talk time can vary depending on factors such as clarity of speech, pauses for emphasis, and use of visual aids. However, using this tool for converting the number of words to minutes can still provide a helpful guideline for planning and practicing your presentation. By having a better understanding of speech rates, you can ensure that your message is delivered effectively and efficiently.

III. Benefits of Using a Words to Time Converter

Time management in presentations.

Effective time management during presentations is crucial to ensure the audience remains engaged and the information is accurately conveyed. This is where our speaking time converter comes in handy. By using this tool, presenters can easily determine how many words they need to include in their presentation to stay within the allotted time frame.

Not only does it help with time management, but it also ensures that the pacing of the presentation is consistent, making it easier for the audience to follow. With the use of this tool, presenters can confidently deliver their presentations without the worry of running over time or rushing through it.

Estimated speech time for public speaking

Public speaking can be nerve-wracking, especially when you have too little or too much information to fill your time slot. You wonder only if there were an accurate public speaking time calculator available so that you could be able to allocate the appropriate amount of time to each section of your presentation, ensuring that you cover all the necessary points without rushing or going over time. 

Effective pacing is key in ensuring your message is delivered with clarity and impact.

Most public speakers target an average of 130-150 words per minute for their spoken content, meaning you should aim to limit your speaking time to roughly one minute per 130-150 words. While this may take some practice to achieve, the end result is a confident, well-timed delivery that keeps your audience engaged from start to finish.

Remember, in public speaking, less is often more—take your time to breathe and emphasize key points. Your audience will appreciate your thoughtful and measured approach. For that, you can use this tool and adjust your words to speech time.

Accurate estimations for audiobooks and podcasts

As more and more people turn to audiobooks and podcasts for their entertainment and information needs, accurate estimations of listening time have become more important than ever. After all, there’s nothing worse than settling in for a quick listen only to find yourself trapped in a story that goes on for hours longer than you anticipated.

That’s why it’s great to see publishers and podcast producers taking estimated reading time seriously, providing listeners with the information they need to choose the right content for their schedule. Whether you’re looking for a quick listen on your daily commute or a lengthy distraction for a lazy Sunday afternoon, accurate estimations using this speaking time calculator make it easier than ever to find the perfect content.

IV. Some Popular Speech Times

V. conclusion.

As the world becomes more fast-paced, time is a precious commodity. Determining how long your script will take to read, whether for a presentation or a video, can make a significant difference in engaging and retaining your audience’s attention.

That’s where our Words to Time Converter comes in handy. It’s a valuable tool for anyone working in various professions, from broadcast journalists to teachers to executives. No matter the industry, time is of the essence, and knowing how long your speech or presentation will take is crucial for effective communication.

Do you wonder how long it takes to deliver your speech?

This website helps you convert the number of words into the time it takes to deliver your speech, online and for free. This tool is useful when preparing a speech or a presentation. The number of minutes you will take is dependent on the number of words and your speed of speech, or reading speed.

Note: This calculator provides an indication only.

Enter details below

The overview below provides an indication of the minutes for a speech (based on an average reading speed of 130 words per minute):

• Words in a 1 minute speech 130 words
• Words in a 2 minute speech 260 words
• Words in a 3 minute speech 390 words
• Words in a 4 minute speech 520 words
• Words in a 5 minute speech 650 words
• Words in a 10 minute speech 1300 words
• Words in a 15 minute speech 1950 words
• Words in a 20 minute speech 2600 words
• How long does a 500 word speech take? 3.8 minutes
• How long does a 1000 word speech take? 7.7 minutes
• How long does a 1250 word speech take? 9.6 minutes
• How long does a 1500 word speech take? 11.5 minutes
• How long does a 1750 word speech take? 13.5 minutes
• How long does a 2000 word speech take? 15.4 minutes
• How long does a 2500 word speech take? 19.2 minutes
• How long does a 5000 word speech take? 38.5 minutes

Best speech-to-text app of 2024

Free, paid and online voice recognition apps and services

Best overall

Best for business, best for mobile, best text service, best speech recognition, best virtual assistant, best for cloud, best for azure, best for batch conversion, best free speech to text apps, best mobile speech to text apps.

• How we test

The best speech-to-text apps make it simple and easy to convert speech into text, for both desktop and mobile devices.

1. Best overall 2. Best for business 3. Best for mobile 4. Best text service 5. Best speech recognition 6. Best virtual assistant 7. Best for cloud 8. Best for Azure 9. Best for batch conversion 10. Best free speech to text apps 11. Best mobile speech to text apps 12. FAQs 13. How we test

Speech-to-text used to be regarded as very niche, specifically serving either people with accessibility needs or for  dictation . However, speech-to-text is moving more and more into the mainstream as office work can now routinely be completed more simply and easily by using voce-recognition software, rather than having to type through members, and speaking aloud for text to be recorded is now quite common.

While the best speech to text software used to be specifically only for desktops, the development of mobile devices and the explosion of easily accessible apps means that transcription can now also be carried out on a  smartphone  or  tablet . 

This has made the best voice to text applications increasingly valuable to users in a range of different environments, from education to business. This is not least because the technology has matured to the level where mistakes in transcriptions are relatively rare, with some services rightly boasting a 99.9% success rate from clear audio.

Even still, this applies mainly to ordinary situations and circumstances, and precludes the use of technical terminology such as required in legal or medical professions. Despite this, digital transcription can still service needs such as basic  note-taking  which can still be easily done using a phone app, simplifying the dictation process.

However, different speech-to-text programs have different levels of ability and complexity, with some using advanced machine learning to constantly correct errors flagged up by users so that they are not repeated. Others are downloadable software which is only as good as its latest update.

Here then are the best in speech-to-text recognition programs, which should be more than capable for most situations and circumstances.

We've also featured the best voice recognition software .

Get in touch

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The best paid for speech to text apps of 2024 in full:

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1. Dragon Anywhere

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

Reasons to avoid.

Dragon Anywhere is the Nuance mobile product for Android and iOS devices, however this is no ‘lite’ app, but rather offers fully-formed dictation capabilities powered via the cloud. 

So essentially you get the same excellent speech recognition as seen on the desktop software – the only meaningful difference we noticed was a very slight delay in our spoken words appearing on the screen (doubtless due to processing in the cloud). However, note that the app was still responsive enough overall.

It also boasts support for boilerplate chunks of text which can be set up and inserted into a document with a simple command, and these, along with custom vocabularies, are synced across the mobile app and desktop Dragon software. Furthermore, you can share documents across devices via Evernote or cloud services (such as Dropbox).

This isn’t as flexible as the desktop application, however, as dictation is limited to within Dragon Anywhere – you can’t dictate directly in another app (although you can copy over text from the Dragon Anywhere dictation pad to a third-party app). The other caveats are the need for an internet connection for the app to work (due to its cloud-powered nature), and the fact that it’s a subscription offering with no one-off purchase option, which might not be to everyone’s tastes.

Even bearing in mind these limitations, though, it’s a definite boon to have fully-fledged, powerful voice recognition of the same sterling quality as the desktop software, nestling on your phone or tablet for when you’re away from the office.

Nuance Communications offers a 7-day free trial to give the app a try before you commit to a subscription. 

Read our full Dragon Anywhere review .

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2. Dragon Professional

Should you be looking for a business-grade dictation application, your best bet is Dragon Professional. Aimed at pro users, the software provides you with the tools to dictate and edit documents, create spreadsheets, and browse the web using your voice.   

According to Nuance, the solution is capable of taking dictation at an equivalent typing speed of 160 words per minute, with a 99% accuracy rate – and that’s out-of-the-box, before any training is done (whereby the app adapts to your voice and words you commonly use).

As well as creating documents using your voice, you can also import custom word lists. There’s also an additional mobile app that lets you transcribe audio files and send them back to your computer.   

This is a powerful, flexible, and hugely useful tool that is especially good for individuals, such as professionals and freelancers, allowing for typing and document management to be done much more flexibly and easily.

Overall, the interface is easy to use, and if you get stuck at all, you can access a series of help tutorials. And while the software can seem expensive, it's just a one-time fee and compares very favorably with paid-for subscription transcription services.

Also note that Nuance are currently offering 12-months' access to Dragon Anywhere at no extra cost with any purchase of Dragon Home or Dragon Professional Individual.

Read our full Dragon Professional review .

Otter is a cloud-based speech to text program especially aimed for mobile use, such as on a laptop or smartphone. The app provides real-time transcription, allowing you to search, edit, play, and organize as required.

Otter is marketed as an app specifically for meetings, interviews, and lectures, to make it easier to take rich notes. However, it is also built to work with collaboration between teams, and different speakers are assigned different speaker IDs to make it easier to understand transcriptions.

There are three different payment plans, with the basic one being free to use and aside from the features mentioned above also includes keyword summaries and a wordcloud to make it easier to find specific topic mentions. You can also organize and share, import audio and video for transcription, and provides 600 minutes of free service.

The Premium plan also includes advanced and bulk export options, the ability to sync audio from Dropbox, additional playback speeds including the ability to skip silent pauses. The Premium plan also allows for up to 6,000 minutes of speech to text.

The Teams plan also adds two-factor authentication, user management and centralized billing, as well as user statistics, voiceprints, and live captioning.

Read our full Otter review .

Verbit aims to offer a smarter speech to text service, using AI for transcription and captioning. The service is specifically targeted at enterprise and educational establishments.

Verbit uses a mix of speech models, using neural networks and algorithms to reduce background noise, focus on terms as well as differentiate between speakers regardless of accent, as well as incorporate contextual events such as news and company information into recordings.

Although Verbit does offer a live version for transcription and captioning, aiming for a high degree of accuracy, other plans offer human editors to ensure transcriptions are fully accurate, and advertise a four hour turnaround time.

Altogether, while Verbit does offer a direct speech to text service, it’s possibly better thought of as a transcription service, but the focus on enterprise and education, as well as team use, means it earns a place here as an option to consider.

Read our full Verbit review .

5. Speechmatics

Speechmatics offers a machine learning solution to converting speech to text, with its automatic speech recognition solution available to use on existing audio and video files as well as for live use.

Unlike some automated transcription software which can struggle with accents or charge more for them, Speechmatics advertises itself as being able to support all major British accents, regardless of nationality. That way it aims to cope with not just different American and British English accents, but also South African and Jamaican accents.

Speechmatics offers a wider number of speech to text transcription uses than many other providers. Examples include taking call center phone recordings and converting them into searchable text or Word documents. The software also works with video and other media for captioning as well as using keyword triggers for management.

Overall, Speechmatics aims to offer a more flexible and comprehensive speech to text service than a lot of other providers, and the use of automation should keep them price competitive.

Read our full Speechmatics review .

6. Braina Pro

Braina Pro is speech recognition software which is built not just for dictation, but also as an all-round digital assistant to help you achieve various tasks on your PC. It supports dictation to third-party software in not just English but almost 90 different languages, with impressive voice recognition chops.

Beyond that, it’s a virtual assistant that can be instructed to set alarms, search your PC for a file, or search the internet, play an MP3 file, read an ebook aloud, plus you can implement various custom commands.

The Windows program also has a companion Android app which can remotely control your PC, and use the local Wi-Fi network to deliver commands to your computer, so you can spark up a music playlist, for example, wherever you happen to be in the house. Nifty.

There’s a free version of Braina which comes with limited functionality, but includes all the basic PC commands, along with a 7-day trial of the speech recognition which allows you to test out its powers for yourself before you commit to a subscription. Yes, this is another subscription-only product with no option to purchase for a one-off fee. Also note that you need to be online and have Google ’s Chrome browser installed for speech recognition functionality to work.

Read our full Braina Pro review .

7. Amazon Transcribe

Amazon Transcribe is as big cloud-based automatic speech recognition platform developed specifically to convert audio to text for apps. It especially aims to provide a more accurate and comprehensive service than traditional providers, such as being able to cope with low-fi and noisy recordings, such as you might get in a contact center .

Amazon Transcribe uses a deep learning process that automatically adds punctuation and formatting, as well as process with a secure livestream or otherwise transcribe speech to text with batch processing.

As well as offering time stamping for individual words for easy search, it can also identify different speaks and different channels and annotate documents accordingly to account for this.

There are also some nice features for editing and managing transcribed texts, such as vocabulary filtering and replacement words which can be used to keep product names consistent and therefore any following transcription easier to analyze.

Overall, Amazon Transcribe is one of the most powerful platforms out there, though it’s aimed more for the business and enterprise user rather than the individual.

8. Microsoft Azure Speech to Text

Microsoft 's Azure cloud service offers advanced speech recognition as part of the platform's speech services to deliver the Microsoft Azure Speech to Text functionality. 

This feature allows you to simply and easily create text from a variety of audio sources. There are also customization options available to work better with different speech patterns, registers, and even background sounds. You can also modify settings to handle different specialist vocabularies, such as product names, technical information, and place names.

The Microsoft's Azure Speech to Text feature is powered by deep neural network models and allows for real-time audio transcription that can be set up to handle multiple speakers.

As part of the Azure cloud service, you can run Azure Speech to Text in the cloud, on premises, or in edge computing. In terms of pricing, you can run the feature in a free container with a single concurrent request for up to 5 hours of free audio per month.

Read our full Microsoft Azure Speech to Text review .

9. IBM Watson Speech to Text

IBM's Watson Speech to Text works is the third cloud-native solution on this list, with the feature being powered by AI and machine learning as part of IBM's cloud services.

While there is the option to transcribe speech to text in real-time, there is also the option to batch convert audio files and process them through a range of language, audio frequency, and other output options.

You can also tag transcriptions with speaker labels, smart formatting, and timestamps, as well as apply global editing for technical words or phrases, acronyms, and for number use.

As with other cloud services Watson Speech to Text allows for easy deployment both in the cloud and on-premises behind your own firewall to ensure security is maintained.

Read our full Watson Speech to Text review .

1. Google Gboard

If you already have an Android mobile device, then if it's not already installed then download Google Keyboard from the Google Play store and you'll have an instant text-to-speech app. Although it's primarily designed as a keyboard for physical input, it also has a speech input option which is directly available. And because all the power of Google's hardware is behind it, it's a powerful and responsive tool.

If that's not enough then there are additional features. Aside from physical input ones such as swiping, you can also trigger images in your text using voice commands. Additionally, it can also work with Google Translate, and is advertised as providing support for over 60 languages.

Even though Google Keyboard isn't a dedicated transcription tool, as there are no shortcut commands or text editing directly integrated, it does everything you need from a basic transcription tool. And as it's a keyboard, it means should be able to work with any software you can run on your Android smartphone, so you can text edit, save, and export using that. Even better, it's free and there are no adverts to get in the way of you using it.

2. Just Press Record

If you want a dedicated dictation app, it’s worth checking out Just Press Record. It’s a mobile audio recorder that comes with features such as one tap recording, transcription and iCloud syncing across devices. The great thing is that it’s aimed at pretty much anyone and is extremely easy to use. 

When it comes to recording notes, all you have to do is press one button, and you get unlimited recording time. However, the really great thing about this app is that it also offers a powerful transcription service. 

Through it, you can quickly and easily turn speech into searchable text. Once you’ve transcribed a file, you can then edit it from within the app. There’s support for more than 30 languages as well, making it the perfect app if you’re working abroad or with an international team. Another nice feature is punctuation command recognition, ensuring that your transcriptions are free from typos.   

This app is underpinned by cloud technology, meaning you can access notes from any device (which is online). You’re able to share audio and text files to other iOS apps too, and when it comes to organizing them, you can view recordings in a comprehensive file. 

3. Speechnotes

Speechnotes is yet another easy to use dictation app. A useful touch here is that you don’t need to create an account or anything like that; you just open up the app and press on the microphone icon, and you’re off.   

The app is powered by Google voice recognition tech. When you’re recording a note, you can easily dictate punctuation marks through voice commands, or by using the built-in punctuation keyboard. 

To make things even easier, you can quickly add names, signatures, greetings and other frequently used text by using a set of custom keys on the built-in keyboard. There’s automatic capitalization as well, and every change made to a note is saved to the cloud.

When it comes to customizing notes, you can access a plethora of fonts and text sizes. The app is free to download from the Google Play Store , but you can make in-app purchases to access premium features (there's also a browser version for Chrome).   

Read our full Speechnotes review .

4. Transcribe

Marketed as a personal assistant for turning videos and voice memos into text files, Transcribe is a popular dictation app that’s powered by AI. It lets you make high quality transcriptions by just hitting a button.   

The app can transcribe any video or voice memo automatically, while supporting over 80 languages from across the world. While you can easily create notes with Transcribe, you can also import files from services such as Dropbox.

Once you’ve transcribed a file, you can export the raw text to a word processor to edit. The app is free to download, but you’ll have to make an in-app purchase if you want to make the most of these features in the long-term. There is a trial available, but it’s basically just 15 minutes of free transcription time. Transcribe is only available on iOS, though.   

5. Windows Speech Recognition

If you don’t want to pay for speech recognition software, and you’re running Microsoft’s latest desktop OS, then you might be pleased to hear that speech-to-text is built into Windows.

Windows Speech Recognition, as it’s imaginatively named – and note that this is something different to Cortana, which offers basic commands and assistant capabilities – lets you not only execute commands via voice control, but also offers the ability to dictate into documents.

The sort of accuracy you get isn’t comparable with that offered by the likes of Dragon, but then again, you’re paying nothing to use it. It’s also possible to improve the accuracy by training the system by reading text, and giving it access to your documents to better learn your vocabulary. It’s definitely worth indulging in some training, particularly if you intend to use the voice recognition feature a fair bit.

The company has been busy boasting about its advances in terms of voice recognition powered by deep neural networks, especially since windows 10 and now for Windows 11 , and Microsoft is certainly priming us to expect impressive things in the future. The likely end-goal aim is for Cortana to do everything eventually, from voice commands to taking dictation.

Turn on Windows Speech Recognition by heading to the Control Panel (search for it, or right click the Start button and select it), then click on Ease of Access, and you will see the option to ‘start speech recognition’ (you’ll also spot the option to set up a microphone here, if you haven’t already done that).

Aside from what has already been covered above, there are an increasing number of apps available across all mobile devices for working with speech to text, not least because Google's speech recognition technology is available for use. 

iTranslate Translator  is a speech-to-text app for iOS with a difference, in that it focuses on translating voice languages. Not only does it aim to translate different languages you hear into text for your own language, it also works to translate images such as photos you might take of signs in a foreign country and get a translation for them. In that way, iTranslate is a very different app, that takes the idea of speech-to-text in a novel direction, and by all accounts, does it well. 

ListNote Speech-to-Text Notes  is another speech-to-text app that uses Google's speech recognition software, but this time does a more comprehensive job of integrating it with a note-taking program than many other apps. The text notes you record are searchable, and you can import/export with other text applications. Additionally there is a password protection option, which encrypts notes after the first 20 characters so that the beginning of the notes are searchable by you. There's also an organizer feature for your notes, using category or assigned color. The app is free on Android, but includes ads.

Voice Notes  is a simple app that aims to convert speech to text for making notes. This is refreshing, as it mixes Google's speech recognition technology with a simple note-taking app, so there are more features to play with here. You can categorize notes, set reminders, and import/export text accordingly.

SpeechTexter  is another speech-to-text app that aims to do more than just record your voice to a text file. This app is built specifically to work with social media, so that rather than sending messages, emails, Tweets, and similar, you can record your voice directly to the social media sites and send. There are also a number of language packs you can download for offline working if you want to use more than just English, which is handy.

Also consider reading these related software and app guides:

• Best text-to-speech software
• Best transcription services
• Best Bluetooth headsets

Speech-to-text app FAQs

Which speech-to-text app is best for you.

When deciding which speech-to-text app to use, first consider what your actual needs are, as free and budget  options may only provide basic features, so if you need to use advanced tools you may find a paid-for platform is better suited to you. Additionally, higher-end software can usually cater for every need, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may require from your speech-to-text app.

How we tested the best speech-to-text apps

To test for the best speech-to-text apps we first set up an account with the relevant platform, then we tested the service to see how the software could be used for different purposes and in different situations. The aim was to push each speech-to-text platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.

Read more on how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar .

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Brian has over 30 years publishing experience as a writer and editor across a range of computing, technology, and marketing titles. He has been interviewed multiple times for the BBC and been a speaker at international conferences. His specialty on techradar is Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, covering everything from office suites to IT service tools. He is also a science fiction and fantasy author, published as Brian G Turner.

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SpeechTexter is a free multilingual speech-to-text application aimed at assisting you with transcription of notes, documents, books, reports or blog posts by using your voice. This app also features a customizable voice commands list, allowing users to add punctuation marks, frequently used phrases, and some app actions (undo, redo, make a new paragraph).

SpeechTexter is used daily by students, teachers, writers, bloggers around the world.

It will assist you in minimizing your writing efforts significantly.

Voice-to-text software is exceptionally valuable for people who have difficulty using their hands due to trauma, people with dyslexia or disabilities that limit the use of conventional input devices. Speech to text technology can also be used to improve accessibility for those with hearing impairments, as it can convert speech into text.

It can also be used as a tool for learning a proper pronunciation of words in the foreign language, in addition to helping a person develop fluency with their speaking skills.

Accuracy levels higher than 90% should be expected. It varies depending on the language and the speaker.

No download, installation or registration is required. Just click the microphone button and start dictating.

Speech to text technology is quickly becoming an essential tool for those looking to save time and increase their productivity.

Powerful real-time continuous speech recognition

Creation of text notes, emails, blog posts, reports and more.

Custom voice commands

More than 70 languages supported

SpeechTexter is using Google Speech recognition to convert the speech into text in real-time. This technology is supported by Chrome browser (for desktop) and some browsers on Android OS. Other browsers have not implemented speech recognition yet.

Note: iPhones and iPads are not supported

List of supported languages:

Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Basque, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Catalan, Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Lao, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian Bokmål, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Southern Sotho, Spanish, Sundanese, Swahili, Swati, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tsonga, Tswana, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Venda, Vietnamese, Xhosa, Zulu.

Instructions for web app on desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux OS)

Requirements: the latest version of the Google Chrome [↗] browser (other browsers are not supported).

1. Connect a high-quality microphone to your computer.

2. Make sure your microphone is set as the default recording device on your browser.

To go directly to microphone's settings paste the line below into Chrome's URL bar.

chrome://settings/content/microphone

To capture speech from video/audio content on the web or from a file stored on your device, select 'Stereo Mix' as the default audio input.

3. Select the language you would like to speak (Click the button on the top right corner).

4. Click the "microphone" button. Chrome browser will request your permission to access your microphone. Choose "allow".

5. You can start dictating!

Instructions for the web app on a mobile and for the android app

Requirements: - Google app [↗] installed on your Android device. - Any of the supported browsers if you choose to use the web app.

Supported android browsers (not a full list): Chrome browser (recommended), Edge, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi.

1. Tap the button with the language name (on a web app) or language code (on android app) on the top right corner to select your language.

2. Tap the microphone button. The SpeechTexter app will ask for permission to record audio. Choose 'allow' to enable microphone access.

3. You can start dictating!

Common problems on a desktop (Windows, Mac, Linux OS)

Error: 'speechtexter cannot access your microphone'..

Please give permission to access your microphone.

Click on the "padlock" icon next to the URL bar, find the "microphone" option, and choose "allow".

Error: 'No speech was detected. Please try again'.

If you get this error while you are speaking, make sure your microphone is set as the default recording device on your browser [see step 2].

If you're using a headset, make sure the mute switch on the cord is off.

Error: 'Network error'

The internet connection is poor. Please try again later.

The result won't transfer to the "editor".

The result confidence is not high enough or there is a background noise. An accumulation of long text in the buffer can also make the engine stop responding, please make some pauses in the speech.

The results are wrong.

Please speak loudly and clearly. Speaking clearly and consistently will help the software accurately recognize your words.

Reduce background noise. Background noise from fans, air conditioners, refrigerators, etc. can drop the accuracy significantly. Try to reduce background noise as much as possible.

Speak directly into the microphone. Speaking directly into the microphone enhances the accuracy of the software. Avoid speaking too far away from the microphone.

Speak in complete sentences. Speaking in complete sentences will help the software better recognize the context of your words.

Can I upload an audio file and get the transcription?

No, this feature is not available.

How do I transcribe an audio (video) file on my PC or from the web?

Playback your file in any player and hit the 'mic' button on the SpeechTexter website to start capturing the speech. For better results select "Stereo Mix" as the default recording device on your browser, if you are accessing SpeechTexter and the file from the same device.

I don't see the "Stereo mix" option (Windows OS)

"Stereo Mix" might be hidden or it's not supported by your system. If you are a Windows user go to 'Control panel' → Hardware and Sound → Sound → 'Recording' tab. Right-click on a blank area in the pane and make sure both "View Disabled Devices" and "View Disconnected Devices" options are checked. If "Stereo Mix" appears, you can enable it by right clicking on it and choosing 'enable'. If "Stereo Mix" hasn't appeared, it means it's not supported by your system. You can try using a third-party program such as "Virtual Audio Cable" or "VB-Audio Virtual Cable" to create a virtual audio device that includes "Stereo Mix" functionality.

How to use the voice commands list?

The voice commands list allows you to insert the punctuation, some text, or run some preset functions using only your voice. On the first column you enter your voice command. On the second column you enter a punctuation mark or a function. Voice commands are case-sensitive. Available functions: #newparagraph (add a new paragraph), #undo (undo the last change), #redo (redo the last change)

To use the function above make a pause in your speech until all previous dictated speech appears in your note, then say "insert a new paragraph" and wait for the command execution.

Found a mistake in the voice commands list or want to suggest an update? Follow the steps below:

• Navigate to the voice commands list [↑] on this website.
• Click on the edit button to update or add new punctuation marks you think other users might find useful in your language.
• Click on the "Export" button located above the voice commands list to save your list in JSON format to your device.

Next, send us your file as an attachment via email. You can find the email address at the bottom of the page. Feel free to include a brief description of the mistake or the updates you're suggesting in the email body.

Your contribution to the improvement of the services is appreciated.

Can I prevent my custom voice commands from disappearing after closing the browser?

SpeechTexter by default saves your data inside your browser's cache. If your browsers clears the cache your data will be deleted. However, you can export your custom voice commands to your device and import them when you need them by clicking the corresponding buttons above the list. SpeechTexter is using JSON format to store your voice commands. You can create a .txt file in this format on your device and then import it into SpeechTexter. An example of JSON format is shown below:

{ "period": ".", "full stop": ".", "question mark": "?", "new paragraph": "#newparagraph" }

I lost my dictated work after closing the browser.

SpeechTexter doesn't store any text that you dictate. Please use the "autosave" option or click the "download" button (recommended). The "autosave" option will try to store your work inside your browser's cache, where it will remain until you switch the "text autosave" option off, clear the cache manually, or if your browser clears the cache on exit.

Common problems on the Android app

I get the message: 'speech recognition is not available'..

'Google app' from Play store is required for SpeechTexter to work. download [↗]

Where does SpeechTexter store the saved files?

Version 1.5 and above stores the files in the internal memory.

Version 1.4.9 and below stores the files inside the "SpeechTexter" folder at the root directory of your device.

After updating the app from version 1.x.x to version 2.x.x my files have disappeared

As a result of recent updates, the Android operating system has implemented restrictions that prevent users from accessing folders within the Android root directory, including SpeechTexter's folder. However, your old files can still be imported manually by selecting the "import" button within the Speechtexter application.

Common problems on the mobile web app

Tap on the "padlock" icon next to the URL bar, find the "microphone" option and choose "allow".

• TERMS OF USE
• PRIVACY POLICY
• Play Store [↗]

copyright © 2014 - 2024 www.speechtexter.com . All Rights Reserved.

Speech to text

An AI Speech feature that accurately transcribes spoken audio to text.

Make spoken audio actionable

Quickly and accurately transcribe audio to text in more than 100 languages and variants. Customize models to enhance accuracy for domain-specific terminology. Get more value from spoken audio by enabling search or analytics on transcribed text or facilitating action—all in your preferred programming language.

High-quality transcription

Get accurate audio to text transcriptions with state-of-the-art speech recognition.

Customizable models

Add specific words to your base vocabulary or build your own speech-to-text models.

Flexible deployment

Run Speech to Text anywhere—in the cloud or at the edge in containers.

Production-ready

Access the same robust technology that powers speech recognition across Microsoft products.

Accurately transcribe speech from various sources

Convert audio to text from a range of sources, including  microphones ,  audio files , and  blob storage . Use speaker diarisation to determine who said what and when. Get readable transcripts with automatic formatting and punctuation.

Customize speech models to your needs

Tailor your speech models to understand organization- and industry-specific terminology. Overcome speech recognition barriers such as background noise, accents, or unique vocabulary.  Customize your models  by uploading audio data and transcripts. Automatically  generate custom models using Office 365 data  to optimize speech recognition accuracy for your organization.

Deploy anywhere

Run Speech to Text wherever your data resides. Build speech applications that are optimized for robust cloud capabilities and on-premises using  containers .

Fuel App Innovation with Cloud AI Services

Learn 5 key ways your organization can get started with AI to realize value quickly.

Comprehensive privacy and security

AI Speech, part of Azure AI Services, is  certified  by SOC, FedRAMP, PCI DSS, HIPAA, HITECH, and ISO.

View and delete your custom speech data and models at any time. Your data is encrypted while it's in storage.

Your data remains yours. Your audio input and transcription data aren't logged during audio processing.

Backed by Azure infrastructure, AI Speech offers enterprise-grade security, availability, compliance, and manageability.

Comprehensive security and compliance, built in

Microsoft invests more than $1 billion annually on cybersecurity research and development.

We employ more than 3,500 security experts who are dedicated to data security and privacy.

Azure has more certifications than any other cloud provider. View the comprehensive list .

Flexible pricing gives you the control you need

With Speech to Text, pay as you go based on the number of hours of audio you transcribe, with no upfront costs.

Get started with an Azure free account

After your credit, move to  pay as you go  to keep building with the same free services. Pay only if you use more than your free monthly amounts.

Documentation and resources

Get started.

Browse the  documentation

Create an AI Speech service with the  Microsoft Learn course

Explore code samples

Check out our  sample code

See customization resources

Explore and customize your voice-to-text solution with  Speech Studio . No code required.

Frequently asked questions about Speech to Text

What is speech to text.

It is a feature within the Speech service that accurately and quickly transcribes audio to text.

What are Azure AI Services?

AI Services  are a collection of customizable, prebuilt AI models that can be used to add AI to applications. There are a variety of domains, including Speech, Decision, Language, and Vision. Speech to Text is one feature within the Speech service. Other Speech related features include  Text to Speech ,  Speech Translation , and  Speaker Recognition . An example of a Decision service is  Personalizer , which allows you to deliver personalized, relevant experiences. Examples of AI Languages include  Language Understanding ,  Text Analytics  for natural language processing,  QnA Maker  for FAQ experiences, and  Translator  for language translation.

Start building with AI Services

The best dictation software in 2024

These speech-to-text apps will save you time without sacrificing accuracy..

The early days of dictation software were like your friend that mishears lyrics: lots of enthusiasm but little accuracy. Now, AI is out of Pandora's box, both in the news and in the apps we use, and dictation apps are getting better and better because of it. It's still not 100% perfect, but you'll definitely feel more in control when using your voice to type.

I took to the internet to find the best speech-to-text software out there right now, and after monologuing at length in front of dozens of dictation apps, these are my picks for the best.

The best dictation software

Windows 11 Speech Recognition for free dictation software on Windows

Dragon by Nuance for a customizable dictation app

Google Docs voice typing for dictating in Google Docs

Gboard for a free mobile dictation app

Otter for collaboration

What is dictation software?

When searching for dictation software online, you'll come across a wide range of options. The ones I'm focusing on here are apps or services that you can quickly open, start talking, and see the results on your screen in (near) real-time. This is great for taking quick notes , writing emails without typing, or talking out an entire novel while you walk in your favorite park—because why not.

Beyond these productivity uses, people with disabilities or with carpal tunnel syndrome can use this software to type more easily. It makes technology more accessible to everyone .

If this isn't what you're looking for, here's what else is out there:

AI assistants, such as Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Microsoft's Cortana, can help you interact with each of these ecosystems to send texts, buy products, or schedule events on your calendar.

AI meeting assistants will join your meetings and transcribe everything, generating meeting notes to share with your team.

AI transcription platforms can process your video and audio files into neat text.

Transcription services that use a combination of dictation software, AI, and human proofreaders can achieve above 99% accuracy.

There are also advanced platforms for enterprise, like Amazon Transcribe and Microsoft Azure's speech-to-text services.

What makes a great dictation app?

How we evaluate and test apps.

Our best apps roundups are written by humans who've spent much of their careers using, testing, and writing about software. Unless explicitly stated, we spend dozens of hours researching and testing apps, using each app as it's intended to be used and evaluating it against the criteria we set for the category. We're never paid for placement in our articles from any app or for links to any site—we value the trust readers put in us to offer authentic evaluations of the categories and apps we review. For more details on our process, read the full rundown of how we select apps to feature on the Zapier blog .

Dictation software comes in different shapes and sizes. Some are integrated in products you already use. Others are separate apps that offer a range of extra features. While each can vary in look and feel, here's what I looked for to find the best:

High accuracy. Staying true to what you're saying is the most important feature here. The lowest score on this list is at 92% accuracy.

Ease of use. This isn't a high hurdle, as most options are basic enough that anyone can figure them out in seconds.

Availability of voice commands. These let you add "instructions" while you're dictating, such as adding punctuation, starting a new paragraph, or more complex commands like capitalizing all the words in a sentence.

Availability of the languages supported. Most of the picks here support a decent (or impressive) number of languages.

Versatility. I paid attention to how well the software could adapt to different circumstances, apps, and systems.

I tested these apps by reading a 200-word script containing numbers, compound words, and a few tricky terms. I read the script three times for each app: the accuracy scores are an average of all attempts. Finally, I used the voice commands to delete and format text and to control the app's features where available.

I used my laptop's or smartphone's microphone to test these apps in a quiet room without background noise. For occasional dictation, an equivalent microphone on your own computer or smartphone should do the job well. If you're doing a lot of dictation every day, it's probably worth investing in an external microphone, like the Jabra Evolve .

What about AI?

Before the ChatGPT boom, AI wasn't as hot a keyword, but it already existed. The apps on this list use a combination of technologies that may include AI— machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) in particular. While they could rebrand themselves to keep up with the hype, they may use pipelines or models that aren't as bleeding-edge when compared to what's going on in Hugging Face or under OpenAI Whisper 's hood, for example. 

Also, since this isn't a hot AI software category, these apps may prefer to focus on their core offering and product quality instead, not ride the trendy wave by slapping "AI-powered" on every web page.

Tips for using voice recognition software

Though dictation software is pretty good at recognizing different voices, it's not perfect. Here are some tips to make it work as best as possible.

Speak naturally (with caveats). Dictation apps learn your voice and speech patterns over time. And if you're going to spend any time with them, you want to be comfortable. Speak naturally. If you're not getting 90% accuracy initially, try enunciating more.  

Punctuate. When you dictate, you have to say each period, comma, question mark, and so forth. The software isn't always smart enough to figure it out on its own.

Learn a few commands . Take the time to learn a few simple commands, such as "new line" to enter a line break. There are different commands for composing, editing, and operating your device. Commands may differ from app to app, so learn the ones that apply to the tool you choose.

Know your limits. Especially on mobile devices, some tools have a time limit for how long they can listen—sometimes for as little as 10 seconds. Glance at the screen from time to time to make sure you haven't blown past the mark. 

Practice. It takes time to adjust to voice recognition software, but it gets easier the more you practice. Some of the more sophisticated apps invite you to train by reading passages or doing other short drills. Don't shy away from tutorials, help menus, and on-screen cheat sheets.

The best dictation software at a glance

Best free dictation software for apple devices, apple dictation (ios, ipados, macos).

Look no further than your Mac, iPhone, or iPad for one of the best dictation tools. Apple's built-in dictation feature, powered by Siri (I wouldn't be surprised if the two merged one day), ships as part of Apple's desktop and mobile operating systems. On iOS devices, you use it by pressing the microphone icon on the stock keyboard. On your desktop, you turn it on by going to System Preferences > Keyboard > Dictation , and then use a keyboard shortcut to activate it in your app.

If you want the ability to navigate your Mac with your voice and use dictation, try Voice Control . By default, Voice Control requires the internet to work and has a time limit of about 30 seconds for each smattering of speech. To remove those limits for a Mac, enable Enhanced Dictation, and follow the directions here for your OS (you can also enable it for iPhones and iPads). Enhanced Dictation adds a local file to your device so that you can dictate offline.

You can format and edit your text using simple commands, such as "new paragraph" or "select previous word." Tip: you can view available commands in a small window, like a little cheat sheet, while learning the ropes. Apple also offers a number of advanced commands for things like math, currency, and formatting. 

Apple Dictation price: Included with macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and Apple Watch.

Apple Dictation accuracy: 96%. I tested this on an iPhone SE 3rd Gen using the dictation feature on the keyboard.

Recommendation: For the occasional dictation, I'd recommend the standard Dictation feature available with all Apple systems. But if you need more custom voice features (e.g., medical terms), opt for Voice Control with Enhanced Dictation. You can create and import both custom vocabulary and custom commands and work while offline.

Apple Dictation supported languages: 59 languages and dialects .

While Apple Dictation is available natively on the Apple Watch, if you're serious about recording plenty of voice notes and memos, check out the Just Press Record app. It runs on the same engine and keeps all your recordings synced and organized across your Apple devices.

Best free dictation software for Windows

Windows 11 speech recognition (windows).

Windows 11 Speech Recognition (also known as Voice Typing) is a strong dictation tool, both for writing documents and controlling your Windows PC. Since it's part of your system, you can use it in any app you have installed.

To start, first, check that online speech recognition is on by going to Settings > Time and Language > Speech . To begin dictating, open an app, and on your keyboard, press the Windows logo key + H. A microphone icon and gray box will appear at the top of your screen. Make sure your cursor is in the space where you want to dictate.

When it's ready for your dictation, it will say Listening . You have about 10 seconds to start talking before the microphone turns off. If that happens, just click it again and wait for Listening to pop up. To stop the dictation, click the microphone icon again or say "stop talking."  

As I dictated into a Word document, the gray box reminded me to hang on, we need a moment to catch up . If you're speaking too fast, you'll also notice your transcribed words aren't keeping up. This never posed an issue with accuracy, but it's a nice reminder to keep it slow and steady. 

To activate the computer control features, you'll have to go to Settings > Accessibility > Speech instead. While there, tick on Windows Speech Recognition. This unlocks a range of new voice commands that can fully replace a mouse and keyboard. Your voice becomes the main way of interacting with your system.

While you can use this tool anywhere inside your computer, if you're a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you'll be able to use the dictation features there too. The best app to use it on is, of course, Microsoft Word: it even offers file transcription, so you can upload a WAV or MP3 file and turn it into text. The engine is the same, provided by Microsoft Speech Services.

Windows 11 Speech Recognition price: Included with Windows 11. Also available as part of the Microsoft 365 subscription.

Windows 11 Speech Recognition accuracy: 95%. I tested it in Windows 11 while using Microsoft Word. 

Windows 11 Speech Recognition languages supported : 11 languages and dialects .

Best customizable dictation software

Dragon by nuance (android, ios, macos, windows).

In 1990, Dragon Dictate emerged as the first dictation software. Over three decades 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 (e.g., legal, medical, law enforcement), 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, in the script, the word "Litmus'" (with the possessive) gave every app trouble. To avoid this, I added it to Words, trained it a few times with my voice, and was then able to transcribe it accurately.

It also provides shortcuts. If you want 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 is good and improves with use, showing that you can definitely train your dragon. It's a great choice if you're serious about dictation and plan to use it every day, but may be a bit too much if you're just using it occasionally.

Dragon by Nuance price: $15/month for Dragon Anywhere (iOS and Android); from $200 to $500 for desktop packages

Dragon by Nuance accuracy: 97%. Tested it in the Dragon Anywhere iOS app.

Dragon by Nuance supported languages: 6 languages and dialects in Dragon Anywhere and 8 languages and dialects in Dragon Desktop.  

Best free mobile dictation software

Gboard (android, ios).

Gboard, also known as Google Keyboard, is a free keyboard native to Android phones. It's also available for iOS: go to the App Store, download the Gboard app , and then activate the keyboard in the settings. In addition to typing, it lets you search the web, translate text, or run a quick Google Maps search.

Back to the topic: it has an excellent dictation feature. To start, press the microphone icon on the top-right of the keyboard. An overlay appears on the screen, filling itself with the words you're saying. It's very quick and accurate, which will feel great for fast-talkers but probably intimidating for the more thoughtful among us. If you stop talking for a few seconds, the overlay disappears, and Gboard pastes what it heard into the app you're using. When this happens, tap the microphone icon again to continue talking.

Wherever you can open a keyboard while using your phone, you can have Gboard supporting you there. You can write emails or notes or use any other app with an input field.

The writer who handled the previous update of this list had been using Gboard for seven years, so it had plenty of training data to adapt to his particular enunciation, landing the accuracy at an amazing 98%. I haven't used it much before, so the best I had was 92% overall. It's still a great score. More than that, it's proof of how dictation apps improve the more you use them.

Gboard price : Free

Gboard accuracy: 92%. With training, it can go up to 98%. I tested it using the iOS app while writing a new email.

Gboard supported languages: 916 languages and dialects .

Best dictation software for typing in Google Docs

Google docs voice typing (web on chrome).

Just like Microsoft offers dictation in their Office products, Google does the same for their Workspace suite. The best place to use the voice typing feature is in Google Docs, but you can also dictate speaker notes in Google Slides as a way to prepare for your presentation.

To get started, make sure you're using Chrome and have a Google Docs file open. Go to Tools > Voice typing , and press the microphone icon to start. As you talk, the text will jitter into existence in the document.

You can change the language in the dropdown on top of the microphone icon. If you need help, hover over that icon, and click the ? on the bottom-right. That will show everything from turning on the mic, the voice commands for dictation, and moving around the document.

It's unclear whether Google's voice typing here is connected to the same engine in Gboard. I wasn't able to confirm whether the training data for the mobile keyboard and this tool are connected in any way. Still, the engines feel very similar and turned out the same accuracy at 92%. If you start using it more often, it may adapt to your particular enunciation and be more accurate in the long run.

Google Docs voice typing price : Free

Google Docs voice typing accuracy: 92%. Tested in a new Google Docs file in Chrome.

Google Docs voice typing supported languages: 118 languages and dialects ; voice commands only available in English.

Google Docs integrates with Zapier , which means you can automatically do things like save form entries to Google Docs, create new documents whenever something happens in your other apps, or create project management tasks for each new document.

Best dictation software for collaboration

Otter (web, android, ios).

Most of the time, you're dictating for yourself: your notes, emails, or documents. But there may be situations in which sharing and collaboration is more important. For those moments, Otter is the better option.

It's not as robust in terms of dictation as others on the list, but it compensates with its versatility. It's a meeting assistant, first and foremost, ready to hop on your meetings and transcribe everything it hears. This is great to keep track of what's happening there, making the text available for sharing by generating a link or in the corresponding team workspace.

The reason why it's the best for collaboration is that others can highlight parts of the transcript and leave their comments. It also separates multiple speakers, in case you're recording a conversation, so that's an extra headache-saver if you use dictation software for interviewing people.

When you open the app and click the Record button on the top-right, you can use it as a traditional dictation app. It doesn't support voice commands, but it has decent intuition as to where the commas and periods should go based on the intonation and rhythm of your voice. Once you're done talking, Otter will start processing what you said, extract keywords, and generate action items and notes from the content of the transcription.

If you're going for long recording stretches where you talk about multiple topics, there's an AI chat option, where you can ask Otter questions about the transcript. This is great to summarize the entire talk, extract insights, and get a different angle on everything you said.

Not all meeting assistants offer dictation, so Otter sits here on this fence between software categories, a jack-of-two-trades, quite good at both. If you want something more specialized for meetings, be sure to check out the best AI meeting assistants . But if you want a pure dictation app with plenty of voice commands and great control over the final result, the other options above will serve you better.

Otter price: Free plan available for 300 minutes / month. Pro plan starts at $16.99, adding more collaboration features and monthly minutes.

Otter accuracy: 93% accuracy. I tested it in the web app on my computer.

Otter supported languages: Only American and British English for now.

Is voice dictation for you?

Dictation software isn't for everyone. It will likely take practice learning to "write" out loud because it will feel unnatural. But once you get comfortable with it, you'll be able to write from anywhere on any device without the need for a keyboard. 

And by using any of the apps I listed here, you can feel confident that most of what you dictate will be accurately captured on the screen. 

Related reading:

The best transcription services

Catch typos by making your computer read to you

Why everyone should try the accessibility features on their computer

What is Otter.ai?

The best voice recording apps for iPhone

This article was originally published in April 2016 and has also had contributions from Emily Esposito, Jill Duffy, and Chris Hawkins. The most recent update was in November 2023.

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Miguel Rebelo

Miguel Rebelo is a freelance writer based in London, UK. He loves technology, video games, and huge forests. Track him down at mirebelo.com.

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Can I edit my transcript after I transcribed the audio?

Yes, after you use Kapwing’s automated audio-to-text capabilities, you can easily edit the transcript to perfect it. Kapwing even lets you edit your audio (trim and cut) simply by deleting the text you want to remove. Or, if you don’t want to alter the original audio track, you can always download the transcript as a TXT file and edit it on your computer.

What's different about Kapwing?

Kapwing is free to use for teams of any size. We also offer paid plans with additional features, storage, and support.

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Quickstart: Recognize and convert speech to text

• 2 contributors

Reference documentation | Package (NuGet) | Additional Samples on GitHub

In this quickstart, you create and run an application to recognize and transcribe speech to text in real-time.

You can try real-time speech to text in Speech Studio without signing up or writing any code.

To instead transcribe audio files asynchronously, see What is batch transcription . If you're not sure which speech to text solution is right for you, see What is speech to text?

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription - Create one for free .
• Create a Speech resource in the Azure portal.
• Your Speech resource key and region. After your Speech resource is deployed, select Go to resource to view and manage keys. For more information about Azure AI services resources, see Get the keys for your resource .

Set up the environment

The Speech SDK is available as a NuGet package and implements .NET Standard 2.0. You install the Speech SDK later in this guide. For any other requirements, see Install the Speech SDK .

Set environment variables

Your application must be authenticated to access Azure AI services resources. For production, use a secure way of storing and accessing your credentials. For example, after you get a key for your Speech resource, write it to a new environment variable on the local machine that runs the application.

Don't include the key directly in your code, and never post it publicly. See Azure AI services security for more authentication options such as Azure Key Vault .

To set the environment variable for your Speech resource key, open a console window, and follow the instructions for your operating system and development environment.

• To set the SPEECH_KEY environment variable, replace your-key with one of the keys for your resource.
• To set the SPEECH_REGION environment variable, replace your-region with one of the regions for your resource.

If you only need to access the environment variables in the current console, you can set the environment variable with set instead of setx .

After you add the environment variables, you might need to restart any programs that need to read the environment variable, including the console window. For example, if you're using Visual Studio as your editor, restart Visual Studio before you run the example.

Edit your .bashrc file, and add the environment variables:

After you add the environment variables, run source ~/.bashrc from your console window to make the changes effective.

Edit your .bash_profile file, and add the environment variables:

After you add the environment variables, run source ~/.bash_profile from your console window to make the changes effective.

For iOS and macOS development, you set the environment variables in Xcode. For example, follow these steps to set the environment variable in Xcode 13.4.1.

• Select Product > Scheme > Edit scheme .
• Select Arguments on the Run (Debug Run) page.
• Under Environment Variables select the plus (+) sign to add a new environment variable.
• Enter SPEECH_KEY for the Name and enter your Speech resource key for the Value .

To set the environment variable for your Speech resource region, follow the same steps. Set SPEECH_REGION to the region of your resource. For example, westus .

For more configuration options, see the Xcode documentation .

Recognize speech from a microphone

Follow these steps to create a console application and install the Speech SDK.

Open a command prompt window in the folder where you want the new project. Run this command to create a console application with the .NET CLI.

This command creates the Program.cs file in your project directory.

Install the Speech SDK in your new project with the .NET CLI.

Replace the contents of Program.cs with the following code:

To change the speech recognition language, replace en-US with another supported language . For example, use es-ES for Spanish (Spain). If you don't specify a language, the default is en-US . For details about how to identify one of multiple languages that might be spoken, see Language identification .

Run your new console application to start speech recognition from a microphone:

Make sure that you set the SPEECH_KEY and SPEECH_REGION environment variables . If you don't set these variables, the sample fails with an error message.

Speak into your microphone when prompted. What you speak should appear as text:

Here are some other considerations:

This example uses the RecognizeOnceAsync operation to transcribe utterances of up to 30 seconds, or until silence is detected. For information about continuous recognition for longer audio, including multi-lingual conversations, see How to recognize speech .

To recognize speech from an audio file, use FromWavFileInput instead of FromDefaultMicrophoneInput :

For compressed audio files such as MP4, install GStreamer and use PullAudioInputStream or PushAudioInputStream . For more information, see How to use compressed input audio .

Clean up resources

You can use the Azure portal or Azure Command Line Interface (CLI) to remove the Speech resource you created.

The Speech SDK is available as a NuGet package and implements .NET Standard 2.0. You install the Speech SDK later in this guide. For other requirements, see Install the Speech SDK .

Create a new C++ console project in Visual Studio Community named SpeechRecognition .

Select Tools > Nuget Package Manager > Package Manager Console . In the Package Manager Console , run this command:

Replace the contents of SpeechRecognition.cpp with the following code:

Build and run your new console application to start speech recognition from a microphone.

Reference documentation | Package (Go) | Additional Samples on GitHub

Install the Speech SDK for Go. For requirements and instructions, see Install the Speech SDK .

Follow these steps to create a GO module.

Open a command prompt window in the folder where you want the new project. Create a new file named speech-recognition.go .

Copy the following code into speech-recognition.go :

Run the following commands to create a go.mod file that links to components hosted on GitHub:

Build and run the code:

Reference documentation | Additional Samples on GitHub

To set up your environment, install the Speech SDK . The sample in this quickstart works with the Java Runtime .

Install Apache Maven . Then run mvn -v to confirm successful installation.

Create a new pom.xml file in the root of your project, and copy the following code into it:

Install the Speech SDK and dependencies.

Follow these steps to create a console application for speech recognition.

Create a new file named SpeechRecognition.java in the same project root directory.

Copy the following code into SpeechRecognition.java :

To recognize speech from an audio file, use fromWavFileInput instead of fromDefaultMicrophoneInput :

Reference documentation | Package (npm) | Additional Samples on GitHub | Library source code

You also need a .wav audio file on your local machine. You can use your own .wav file (up to 30 seconds) or download the https://crbn.us/whatstheweatherlike.wav sample file.

To set up your environment, install the Speech SDK for JavaScript. Run this command: npm install microsoft-cognitiveservices-speech-sdk . For guided installation instructions, see Install the Speech SDK .

Recognize speech from a file

Follow these steps to create a Node.js console application for speech recognition.

Open a command prompt window where you want the new project, and create a new file named SpeechRecognition.js .

Install the Speech SDK for JavaScript:

Copy the following code into SpeechRecognition.js :

In SpeechRecognition.js , replace YourAudioFile.wav with your own .wav file. This example only recognizes speech from a .wav file. For information about other audio formats, see How to use compressed input audio . This example supports up to 30 seconds of audio.

Run your new console application to start speech recognition from a file:

The speech from the audio file should be output as text:

This example uses the recognizeOnceAsync operation to transcribe utterances of up to 30 seconds, or until silence is detected. For information about continuous recognition for longer audio, including multi-lingual conversations, see How to recognize speech .

Recognizing speech from a microphone is not supported in Node.js. It's supported only in a browser-based JavaScript environment. For more information, see the React sample and the implementation of speech to text from a microphone on GitHub.

The React sample shows design patterns for the exchange and management of authentication tokens. It also shows the capture of audio from a microphone or file for speech to text conversions.

Reference documentation | Package (Download) | Additional Samples on GitHub

The Speech SDK for Objective-C is distributed as a framework bundle. The framework supports both Objective-C and Swift on both iOS and macOS.

The Speech SDK can be used in Xcode projects as a CocoaPod , or downloaded directly and linked manually. This guide uses a CocoaPod. Install the CocoaPod dependency manager as described in its installation instructions .

Follow these steps to recognize speech in a macOS application.

Clone the Azure-Samples/cognitive-services-speech-sdk repository to get the Recognize speech from a microphone in Objective-C on macOS sample project. The repository also has iOS samples.

In a console window, navigate to the directory of the downloaded sample app, helloworld .

Run the command pod install . This command generates a helloworld.xcworkspace Xcode workspace that contains both the sample app and the Speech SDK as a dependency.

Open the helloworld.xcworkspace workspace in Xcode.

Open the file named AppDelegate.m and locate the buttonPressed method as shown here.

In AppDelegate.m , use the environment variables that you previously set for your Speech resource key and region.

To make the debug output visible, select View > Debug Area > Activate Console .

To build and run the example code, select Product > Run from the menu or select the Play button.

After you select the button in the app and say a few words, you should see the text that you spoke on the lower part of the screen. When you run the app for the first time, it prompts you to give the app access to your computer's microphone.

This example uses the recognizeOnce operation to transcribe utterances of up to 30 seconds, or until silence is detected. For information about continuous recognition for longer audio, including multi-lingual conversations, see How to recognize speech .

To recognize speech from an audio file, use initWithWavFileInput instead of initWithMicrophone :

The Speech SDK for Swift is distributed as a framework bundle. The framework supports both Objective-C and Swift on both iOS and macOS.

Clone the Azure-Samples/cognitive-services-speech-sdk repository to get the Recognize speech from a microphone in Swift on macOS sample project. The repository also has iOS samples.

Navigate to the directory of the downloaded sample app ( helloworld ) in a terminal.

Run the command pod install . This command generates a helloworld.xcworkspace Xcode workspace containing both the sample app and the Speech SDK as a dependency.

Open the file named AppDelegate.swift and locate the applicationDidFinishLaunching and recognizeFromMic methods as shown here.

Build and run the example code by selecting Product > Run from the menu or selecting the Play button.

Reference documentation | Package (PyPi) | Additional Samples on GitHub

The Speech SDK for Python is available as a Python Package Index (PyPI) module . The Speech SDK for Python is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS.

• For Windows, install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 for your platform. Installing this package for the first time might require a restart.
• On Linux, you must use the x64 target architecture.

Install a version of Python from 3.7 or later . For other requirements, see Install the Speech SDK .

Follow these steps to create a console application.

Open a command prompt window in the folder where you want the new project. Create a new file named speech_recognition.py .

Run this command to install the Speech SDK:

Copy the following code into speech_recognition.py :

To change the speech recognition language, replace en-US with another supported language . For example, use es-ES for Spanish (Spain). If you don't specify a language, the default is en-US . For details about how to identify one of multiple languages that might be spoken, see language identification .

This example uses the recognize_once_async operation to transcribe utterances of up to 30 seconds, or until silence is detected. For information about continuous recognition for longer audio, including multi-lingual conversations, see How to recognize speech .

To recognize speech from an audio file, use filename instead of use_default_microphone :

Speech to text REST API reference | Speech to text REST API for short audio reference | Additional Samples on GitHub

You also need a .wav audio file on your local machine. You can use your own .wav file up to 60 seconds or download the https://crbn.us/whatstheweatherlike.wav sample file.

Open a console window and run the following cURL command. Replace YourAudioFile.wav with the path and name of your audio file.

You should receive a response similar to what is shown here. The DisplayText should be the text that was recognized from your audio file. The command recognizes up to 60 seconds of audio and converts it to text.

For more information, see Speech to text REST API for short audio .

Follow these steps and see the Speech CLI quickstart for other requirements for your platform.

Run the following .NET CLI command to install the Speech CLI:

Run the following commands to configure your Speech resource key and region. Replace SUBSCRIPTION-KEY with your Speech resource key and replace REGION with your Speech resource region.

Run the following command to start speech recognition from a microphone:

Speak into the microphone, and you see transcription of your words into text in real-time. The Speech CLI stops after a period of silence, 30 seconds, or when you select Ctrl + C .

To recognize speech from an audio file, use --file instead of --microphone . For compressed audio files such as MP4, install GStreamer and use --format . For more information, see How to use compressed input audio .

To improve recognition accuracy of specific words or utterances, use a phrase list . You include a phrase list in-line or with a text file along with the recognize command:

To change the speech recognition language, replace en-US with another supported language . For example, use es-ES for Spanish (Spain). If you don't specify a language, the default is en-US .

For continuous recognition of audio longer than 30 seconds, append --continuous :

Run this command for information about more speech recognition options such as file input and output:

Learn more about speech recognition

Coming soon: Throughout 2024 we will be phasing out GitHub Issues as the feedback mechanism for content and replacing it with a new feedback system. For more information see: https://aka.ms/ContentUserFeedback .

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Additional resources

Introducing Speech Time Calculate

Estimate how many minutes your speeches, presentations, and voice-over scripts will take based on your words per minute rate!

How To Speech Time Calculate Using This Tool?

If you have a certain number of words or a piece of text you want to time, you can either type in the word count or paste the text into the provided area. This tool will then calculate how long it would take to read that text out loud.

The talk time estimate is calculated using the average speaking speed of adults, which is determined to be 183 words per minute based on scientific studies. If you’re interested in how long it would take to read silently, it’s estimated at 238 words per minute ( This data is also backed by research )

You can adjust the slider to change the words per minute value, which will affect the talk time estimate. However, the silent reading time estimate remains fixed at 238 words per minute.

For ease of use, we’ve also provided reference points for slow, average, and fast reading rates below the slider.

To begin anew, simply click the ‘clear text’ button to erase the content and restore the slider back to its original setting of 183.

Who is This Words to Minutes Converter Tool For?

If you are a student wondering how long is my essay or you’ve been tasked with writing a speech and need to know how many words to aim for and how many minutes will it take to deliver or perhaps you are a podcaster, just starting out, who wants the ability to easily synchronize music and spoken word without having to painstakingly calculate seconds between them, then this Speech Time Calculate is precisely for you!

From now on, instead of spending long hours in front of the computer trying to figure out how many seconds it takes for one phrase or section of dialogue to end and another to begin, you can let our innovative tool do all the work and convert your text to time quickly and accurately. With this powerful tool at your disposal, whether you’re giving a TED talk or just need to nail a business presentation, your life will become a little bit easier.

So keep reading to learn more about what this fantastic words to minutes converter has in store for public speakers, aspiring students, and professional radio producers alike!

Whether you want to read the text silently or speak aloud, you can use this tool as both:

• Reading time calculator
• Talk time calculator

Explanation of the Reading Time

Reading time refers to the duration it takes for an average person to read a written text silently while still comprehending its content. Based on an extensive analysis of 190 studies that involved 18,573 participants , research conducted by Marc Brysbaert in 2019 suggests that the typical silent reading speed for an adult individual is approximately 238 words per minute .

To convert word count to read time for a specific text, you can do so by dividing the total word count of the text by this established value of 238. Here is the mathematical equation for determining the duration of reading time in minutes:

Reading Time = Total Word Count / 238

Explanation of the Speech Time

Speech time refers to the duration it takes for an average person to read a text out loud. Based on data from 77 studies involving 5,965 people , it’s been found that most adults read aloud at a speed of approximately 183 words per minute ( research conducted by Marc Brysbaert in 2019 ). To figure out how long it will take to read a specific piece of text aloud, you can divide the total number of words in the text by this average rate of 183 words per minute.

Of course, it’s important to note that talk time can vary depending on factors such as clarity of speech, pauses for emphasis, and use of visual aids. However, using this tool for converting the number of words to minutes can still provide a helpful guideline for planning and practicing your presentation. By having a better understanding of speech rates, you can ensure that your message is delivered effectively and efficiently.

Benefits of Using a Speech Time Calculate

Time management in presentations.

Effective time management during presentations is crucial to ensure the audience remains engaged and the information is accurately conveyed. This is where our words to speaking time converter comes in handy. By using this tool, presenters can easily determine how many words they need to include in their presentation to stay within the allotted time frame.

Not only does it help with time management, but it also ensures that the pacing of the presentation is consistent, making it easier for the audience to follow. With the use of this presentation time calculator, presenters can confidently deliver their presentations without the worry of running over time or rushing through it.

Estimated speech time for public speaking

Public speaking can be nerve-wracking, especially when you have too little or too much information to fill your time slot. You wonder only if there were an accurate public speaking time calculator available so that you could be able to allocate the appropriate amount of time to each section of your presentation, ensuring that you cover all the necessary points without rushing or going over time.

Effective pacing is key in ensuring your message is delivered with clarity and impact.

Most public speakers target an average of 130-150 words per minute for their spoken content, meaning you should aim to limit your speaking time to roughly one minute per 130-150 words. While this may take some practice to achieve, the end result is a confident, well-timed delivery that keeps your audience engaged from start to finish.

Remember, in public speaking, less is often more—take your time to breathe and emphasize key points. Your audience will appreciate your thoughtful and measured approach. For that, you can use this tool and adjust your words to speech time.

Accurate estimations for audiobooks and podcasts

As more and more people turn to audiobooks and podcasts for their entertainment and information needs, accurate estimations of listening time have become more important than ever. After all, there’s nothing worse than settling in for a quick listen only to find yourself trapped in a story that goes on for hours longer than you anticipated.

That’s why it’s great to see publishers and podcast producers taking estimated reading time seriously, providing listeners with the information they need to choose the right content for their schedule. Whether you’re looking for a quick listen on your daily commute or a lengthy distraction for a lazy Sunday afternoon, accurate estimations using this words to speak time calculator make it easier than ever to find the perfect content.

Some Popular Speech Times

how many words in a 2 minute speech

Almost 300 words

how many words in a 3 minute speech

Almost 450 words

how many words in a 4 minute speech

Almost 600 words

how many words in a 15 minute speech

Almost 2250 words

The speech time is calculated taking 150 words per minute as reference value

Common conversions (average speed)

How long does it take to read 500 words?

3.8 minutes

How long does it take to read 750 words?

5.8 minutes

How long does it take to read 1000 words?

7.7 minutes

How long does it take to read 1200 words?

9.2 minutes

How long does it take to read 1500 words?

11.5 minutes

How long does it take to read 1800 words?

13.8 minutes

How long does it take to read 2000 words?

15.4 minutes

How long does it take to read 3000 words?

23.1 minutes

As the world becomes more fast-paced, time is a precious commodity. Determining how long your script will take to read, whether for a presentation or a video, can make a significant difference in engaging and retaining your audience’s attention.

That’s where our Words to Time Converter comes in handy. It’s a valuable tool for anyone working in various professions, from broadcast journalists to teachers to executives. No matter the industry, time is of the essence, and knowing how long your speech or presentation will take is crucial for effective communication.

Speech time calculator

Speech time: 0 minutes 0 seconds

Characters: 0

150 Words per minute

Speaking speed may vary depending on your style of speech. Test your speech rate first here .

Test your speech rate

To test your speech rate , read the sample text below out loud at your desired pace .

Click on the 'Start Speech Test' button , then read the provided text out loud . Once you finish reading, click on the 'Stop Speech Test' button .

Your speech rate (words per minute) will then appear . Use this value in the tool below to better estimate your reading time.

To improve the accuracy of this speech test, you can replace the text in the text area with your own sample. We do the Math for you.

Number of words: 0

Time elapsed: 0 second(s)

Your speech rate: NaN words per minute

How to use the speech time calculator?

This tool can help you estimate the speech time for your provided text . It can also test your speech rate by using a sample text . Let's start with the speech rate test.

Guide to the Speech Rate Test Tool

How to use the speech rate test.

As mentioned earlier, the speech rate test can estimate how many words per minute you can speak out loud . We provide a sample text consisting of 100 words. All you have to do is click the 'Start Speech Test' button , read the text at your desired pace , and then click on the 'Stop Speech Test' button . Our tool will estimate your speech rate for you . You can learn more about this estimation in the article below.

Can I use my own text for the Speech rate test?

Certainly, you can paste any text into the sample text area . The text can be shorter or longer and can be in a different language as well. Our tool will try to count the number of words which will be used for the calculation .

Where will my speech rate appear?

After clicking on the Stop Speech Test button, the estimated speech rate will appear above the button . The bold text will say something like: 'Your speech rate: 110 words per minute'. Our tool will also ask you if you want to import the estimated value into the speech time calculator tool.

Speech time calculator guide:

How can i use this tool.

To estimate the speech time of your text, paste the text into the first text area . Our tool will then count the number of words and do the math for the calculation . Your estimated speech time will appear in the stats box .

Can I adjust the speaking pace?

Certainly, you can adjust the speaking pace by clicking on one of the three buttons in the 'Speaking Speed' box. You can choose from 'Slow Speaking', 'Normal Speaking', and 'Fast Speaking' as predefined values. You are also free to drag the slider between 100 to 250 words per minute to set a custom pace .

Is this tool accurate?

We strive to be as accurate as possible. If you want to improve the accuracy of the speech time calculator, you can run the speech rate test first . This way, you can test your own speaking pace first.

Are the estimations for foreign languages correct?

The default values are for English. However, by running the speech rate test first, you can get your own estimation for any foreign language .

Did this tool help you?

We did this tool available to anyone for free . If we helped you don't forget to spread it to the world .

More about speech time

This free tool was created to help you estimate your speaking time . There are many reasons why you might need to know how long it takes to read your text out loud . The most typical situations include presentations and speeches, such as public speaking or conference speeches .

During presentations and speeches, there is often a lot to say but limited time . That's why our tool can be handy.

With our tool, you can adjust the amount of text you have prepared to fit your allotted time.

How can I improve my speeches?

If you want to improve your public speaking and conference skills , preparation and practice are key . Try to research your topic thoroughly and simplify all key information , memorizing it as well. This way, you will feel more confident and reduce the chance of stumbling over your words .

It's also important to know who your audience will be. Don't go too deep if your audience doesn't consist of experts .

To make your presentation more appealing , you can also add visuals, such as slides and images , to help deliver your message.

Always speak clearly and confidently . Choosing the right tone, volume, and pace is also crucial , as otherwise, you risk losing your audience's attention.

Try to engage with your audience. Ask them questions or choose interactive activities that keep them engaged with your speech.

Seek feedback by running a 'dry presentation' for your friends or family before the event. Ask for feedback to help you improve.

What is the ideal speech rate?

The ideal speech rate can vary depending on the situation, language, and topic of the speech. Generally, the average speech rate is somewhere between 120 to 150 words per minute . The key here is not to speak as fast as possible but to focus on the content itself . Try to play with your tone, voice, and volume . For certain speeches, a slower rate may be more effective .

Can this tool be used as a speech timer app?

Yes, this tool can be used as a speech timer app . You can paste your text into the 'Test Your Speech Rate' section, start the counter, and read the entire text. After reading, you can click 'Stop,' and the tool will show you how long it took.

Is my data safe?

The data you paste into our tool is not sent to the server . All processing is done in your browser. Therefore, we don't know or store what you paste into this tool. You can even load this page and disable your internet connection afterward, and it will still work.

Real-Time Transcription Service

Effortlessly convert live audio and video speech to text with Notta real-time transcription. Get accurate transcriptions for all your meetings, sales calls, interviews, and more.

Trusted by 1,000,000+ Professional Individuals Worldwide

How to Record and Transcribe Meeting Audio to Text?

Create a Notta account and sign in to Notta Web. At the dashboard, Click ‘Transcribe Live Meeting’. A new window will pop up, allowing you to add a link for the meeting whether it’s a Zoom meeting, Google Meets, or Microsoft Teams, you can paste the link. You can also change the language of your meeting, so choose the correct one. After you’ve done all that, press the ‘Transcribe Now’ button at the end. At your video meeting application, you will be prompted to give access to the Notta bot to join; allow it. This will allow you to have realtime transcription of the meeting.

When you’re done, the real time audio transcription will be available for you in the dashboard. You’re going to find an AI summary of the meeting, a to-do list, and action items as well. Make sure to edit them as necessary. Also, it’s important to proofread the transcription to make sure you get the best and most accurate results.

Click the download button at the top menu on the right side. A new window will pop up, and there you will have all the settings you need. Press the ‘Export’ button when finished, and select the destination on your PC to save the document.

Why Choose Notta?

Notta uses the latest technologies in machine learning algorithms to constantly improve the accuracy of the voice recognition software. This ensures that you get real time audio transcription at a 98.86% accuracy.

Here at Notta we take security and privacy very seriously. That’s why we encrypt all of the data with the AWS’ RDP and S3 services. Also, we comply with regulations such as SSL, GDPR, APPI, and CCPA to ensure maximum security.

Our transcription service is the fastest in the industry and we’re proud of it. Our state-of-the-art application algorithm can transcribe a 2-hour voice audio in about 5 minutes. All of that while keeping our astonishing high accuracy.

We’re able to support live captions and real-time transcriptions in over 100 languages, such as English, Italian, French, Portuguese, Hindi, and many more. Additionally, we offer translation services as well.

With Notta, you can have your meeting or virtual conference transcribed in real time. Whether you’re using Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams, we’ve got you covered.

We’ve made sure that our application is easy to use and provides the best user experience. In order to have a vast availability, we needed to do things in a way that everyone understands, and our clients can testify to this.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Speech to text

This demo only represents basic speech to text capabilities. If you are interested to test out a professional version, get the free 14-day trial of Philips SpeechLive here .

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In desktop apps

Simply press the record button, click anywhere you want to type and start speaking. SpeechLive converts your voice to text in real time in any software.

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Use the SpeechLive smartphone app to convert your voice to text in real time while you speak or send recorded files to automated speech recognition.

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Dictate with a traditional voice recorder, upload your recording to SpeechLive and your transcript will be ready in no time.

Affordable and accurate

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Use our Windows app to use speech to text in any desktop software or our smartphone app to record on the go.

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Convert your voice to text either in real time or within minutes when you use pre-recorded audio files.

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Use voice commands to insert paragraphs, punctuation marks and special characters.​

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Transcribe speech to text ‪゜‬ 4+

Audio transcription, sarun wongpatcharapakorn.

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Offline Transcription provides a fast and privacy-safe way to transcribe audio, video, and podcast files. If you are looking for an app to transcribe - Minutes of meetings. - Classroom audio recording. - Create subtitles for YouTube videos. - Transcribe podcasts into text. - etc. ◼ Features: - No data leaves your Mac. Transcription happens locally without the internet. - Easy to use interface. Drag and drop + one click are all you need to do. - Supported formats: - Audio: mp3, wav, m4a, ogg, aac, and caf - Video: mov and mp4 - Exported formats: text, srt, vtt, and csv. - Transcribes multiple files at once. ◼ Supported 100 different languages The app can transcribe audio in 100 different languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Assamese, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Bashkir, Basque, Belarusian, Bosnian, Breton, Bulgarian, Burmese, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Latin, Latvian, Lingala, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malagasy, Malay, Malayalam, Maltese, Māori, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian, Norwegian Nynorsk, Occitan, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Sanskrit, Serbian, Shona, Sindhi, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Somali, Spanish, Sundanese, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Tatar, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish, Yoruba Terms of Use: https://offlinetranscription.com/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://offlinetranscription.com/privacy/

Version 1.0.5

Minor bug fixes and improvements.

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Anything remotely long doesn't work.

I had it do something two hours long and it just repeated the same phrase over and over again, like it had just stopped working

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The developer, Sarun Wongpatcharapakorn , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

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Streamlit app that uses AssemblyAI's transcription service to provide real-time speech-to-text conversion, enabling users to see their spoken words translated into text instantly.

hassam4/streamlit-speech-to-text

Folders and files, repository files navigation, streamlit-speech-to-text, real-time speech transcription.

This project is a Streamlit app that leverages AssemblyAI's APIs to convert speech to text in real time, enhancing accessibility and user interaction in various applications.

Description

This Streamlit application listens to user speech through the microphone and utilizes AssemblyAI's real-time transcription service to display the spoken text instantly. It's particularly useful for accessibility in meetings, lectures, or any scenario where live transcription can aid communication.

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Gemini 1.5 Pro Now Available in 180+ Countries; With Native Audio Understanding, System Instructions, JSON Mode and More

April 09, 2024

Grab an API key in Google AI Studio , and get started with the Gemini API Cookbook

Less than two months ago, we made our next-generation Gemini 1.5 Pro model available in Google AI Studio for developers to try out. We’ve been amazed by what the community has been able to debug , create and learn using our groundbreaking 1 million context window.

Today, we’re making Gemini 1.5 Pro available in 180+ countries via the Gemini API in public preview, with a first-ever native audio (speech) understanding capability and a new File API to make it easy to handle files. We’re also launching new features like system instructions and JSON mode to give developers more control over the model’s output. Lastly, we’re releasing our next generation text embedding model that outperforms comparable models. Go to Google AI Studio to create or access your API key, and start building.

Unlock new use cases with audio and video modalities

We’re expanding the input modalities for Gemini 1.5 Pro to include audio (speech) understanding in both the Gemini API and Google AI Studio. Additionally, Gemini 1.5 Pro is now able to reason across both image (frames) and audio (speech) for videos uploaded in Google AI Studio, and we look forward to adding API support for this soon.

Gemini API Improvements

Today, we’re addressing a number of top developer requests:

1. System instructions : Guide the model’s responses with system instructions, now available in Google AI Studio and the Gemini API. Define roles, formats, goals, and rules to steer the model's behavior for your specific use case. Set System Instructions easily in Google AI Studio 2. JSON mode : Instruct the model to only output JSON objects. This mode enables structured data extraction from text or images. You can get started with cURL, and Python SDK support is coming soon. 3. Improvements to function calling : You can now select modes to limit the model’s outputs, improving reliability. Choose text, function call, or just the function itself.

A new embedding model with improved performance

Starting today, developers will be able to access our next generation text embedding model via the Gemini API. The new model, text-embedding-004 , (text-embedding-preview-0409 in Vertex AI ), achieves a stronger retrieval performance and outperforms existing models with comparable dimensions, on the MTEB benchmarks .

These are just the first of many improvements coming to the Gemini API and Google AI Studio in the next few weeks. We’re continuing to work on making Google AI Studio and the Gemini API the easiest way to build with Gemini. Get started today in Google AI Studio with Gemini 1.5 Pro, explore code examples and quickstarts in our new Gemini API Cookbook , and join our community channel on Discord .

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I Cloned My Voice With A.I. and My Mother Couldn’t Tell the Difference

The technology is getting shockingly cheap and easy to use..

This article is from Understanding AI , a newsletter that explores how A.I. works and how it’s changing our world.

A couple of weeks ago, I used A.I. software to clone my voice. The resulting audio sounded pretty convincing to me, but I wanted to see what others thought.

So I created a test audio file based on the first 12 paragraphs of this article that I wrote . Seven randomly chosen paragraphs were my real voice, while the other five were generated by A.I. I asked members of my family to see if they could tell the difference.

My mother was stumped. “All of the paragraphs sounded like you,” she told me afterward. She thought she had identified telltale signs of the computer-generated audio. But she was wrong more often than she was right, correctly identifying only five out of 12 paragraphs.

Other members of my family had better luck. My wife, sister, brother, and mother-in-law got all 12 paragraphs right. My father went 10 for 12.

When I opened up the experiment to the broader internet (you can try your luck here ), the results weren’t great for my ego.

“The real voices had much more richness and emotional flavor,” one anonymous participant wrote. “The A.I. voices sounded like a mopey person with a cold. At least I hope that’s right and I’m not insulting your actual voice! I’ve never met you in person.”

Unfortunately, this person guessed wrong about every single paragraph: that “mopey person with a cold” was me. Another zero-for-12 listener wrote that the A.I. voice (actually my voice) “lacks variations in timbre and cadence.”

A grad school friend whom I haven’t seen in years guessed wrong 11 out of 12 times. A former employee was wrong 10 out of 12 times.

Overall, people who didn’t know me well barely did better than a coin flip, guessing correctly only 54 percent of the time. Here are the results, with the speakers identified, for you to hear yourself:

So my cloned voice wasn’t perfect, but it was remarkably good. And creating it was surprisingly cheap and easy.

Voice Cloning Has Improved a Lot in Three Years

Back in 2020, researchers at MIT worked with a company called Respeecher to generate a fake video of Richard Nixon announcing the failure of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. A behind-the-scenes video shows the laborious process required to clone Nixon’s voice. The MIT researchers collected hundreds of short clips of Nixon’s voice and then had a voice actor record himself speaking the same words. The actor then read Nixon’s alternate moon landing speech and the software modified his words to sound like Nixon’s.

This process seems to yield excellent results: Last year, Respeecher won a contract to clone the voice of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader in future Star Wars projects. But it comes at a high cost. When I reached out to Respeecher recently to give their service a try, they informed me that “a project usually takes several weeks with fees from 4-digit to 6-digit in $USD.”

I didn’t have thousands of dollars to spend, so I went with a little-known startup called Play.ht instead. All I had to do was upload a 30-minute video of me reading text of my choice, then wait a few hours.

Play.ht is a text-to-speech service, so I didn’t need to hire a voice actor. Once it had been trained on my voice, the software could generate realistic human speech from written text in just a few minutes. Best of all, I didn’t have to pay a dime. I was able to clone my voice using Play.ht’s free plan. Commercial plans start at $39 per month.

Realistic text-to-speech systems like Play.ht are hard to build because human beings pronounce the same word differently depending on the context. We do that depending on what comes before or after a word in a sentence, and we follow complex, and largely subconscious, rules about which words in a sentence to emphasize.

There’s also some totally random variation in how human beings pronounce words. Sometimes we stop and take a breath, pause to think about what we’re saying, or we just get distracted. So any system that always pronounces words or phrases in exactly the same way is going to sound a bit robotic.

A voice-to-voice system like Respeecher doesn’t need to worry about these issues as much because it can follow the lead of the voice actor who supplied the source audio. In a text-to-speech system, in contrast, the A.I. system needs to understand human speech well enough to know how long to pause, which words to emphasize, and so forth.

Play.ht says its system uses a transformer, a type of neural network that was invented at Google in 2017 and has become the foundation of many generative A.I. systems since then. (The T in GPT, OpenAI’s family of large language models, stands for transformer.)

What makes a transformer model powerful is its ability to “pay attention” to multiple parts of its input at the same time. When Play.ht’s model generates the audio for a new word, it isn’t just “thinking about” the current word or the one that came before it, it’s taking into account the structure of the sentence as a whole. This allows it to vary the speed, emphasis, and other characteristics of speech in a way that mirrors the speech patterns of the person whose voice is being cloned.

The Challenge of Text-to-Speech Voice Cloning

Play.ht is designed for creative professionals making podcasts, audiobooks, instructional videos, television ads, and so forth. The startup is actually a bit of an underdog in this market, as they’re competing with a sophisticated audio editing tool called Descript.

The original version of Descript, launched in 2017, automatically generated a transcript from an audio file. You could delete words from the transcript and Descript would automatically delete the corresponding portion of the audio file.

In 2019, Descript acquired a voice-cloning startup called Lyrebird and integrated its technology into Descript. As a result, since 2020 it has also been possible to add words to a transcript and have Descript generate realistic audio of your voice saying those words—a feature Descript calls Overdub. Like Play.ht, Overdub needs to be trained using a lengthy audio sample of the target voice.

To test Overdub out, I created another 12-paragraph audio file using Descript and challenged family and friends to say which paragraphs were my real voice and which were generated by Overdub. This was far from a rigorous scientific experiment, but overall it seemed like the cloned voice generated by Play.ht was a bit more convincing than the one generated by Descript’s Overdub technology. You can compare Overdub’s output to my real voice here:

This may not matter much in practice because the two products are designed for slightly different use cases. Play.ht is optimized for generating long audio files from scratch—for example, a complete audio book. In contrast, Overdub is designed to add short phrases to an existing audio file. It’s much harder to detect a synthetic voice in short audio clips, so I suspect Overdub’s voices are plenty realistic for this application.

And Descript uses its A.I. technology to enhance audio in other ways. A feature called Studio Sound , for example, takes normal audio—perhaps produced using a low-quality microphone in a noisy room—and uses A.I. to make it sound like it was recorded in a studio. It doesn’t just remove background noise, it subtly alters the speaker’s voice so it sounds like it was recorded with a better microphone.

Descript can also help in the opposite direction: If you add a new audio clip to an existing recording, Descript can add subtle background noise to make sure the new clip has the same “room tone” as the surrounding audio.

Tools like this are a boon for independent creative professionals because they eliminate much of the tedious post-production work required to publish high-quality audio content. But they could also be a boon to criminals and other troublemakers.

The Dark Side of Voice Cloning

Last month the Washington Post reported about a Canadian grandmother who was fooled by scammers using voice cloning technology. A man who sounded just like her grandson Brandon called to say he was in jail and needed money.

According to the Post , the woman and her husband “dashed to their bank in Regina, Saskatchewan, and withdrew 3,000 Canadian dollars ($2,207 in U.S. currency), the daily maximum. They hurried to a second branch for more money.”

Luckily, a manager at the second branch warned them that the call had likely been a scam. They didn’t send the money and Brandon turned out to be fine. But scams like this are only going to become more common in the next few years.

Recent months have also seen a proliferation of fake audio of various celebrities—from Joe Biden to Taylor Swift —saying a variety of funny and sometimes offensive things. While most of these clips are harmless, the trend worries Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director of SAG-AFTRA, a union that represents a broad spectrum of performers, from actors to singers and broadcast journalists. He’s concerned about people using voice cloning to create fake celebrity endorsements, deceiving customers and depriving his members of revenue they are entitled to.

It’s easy to imagine fake audio causing more serious harms. Voice cloning could be used to humiliate celebrities (or non-celebrities for that matter) with fake, sexually explicit audio clips. Political operatives could use fake audio to trick voters in the final days of an election. Imagine someone leaking fake audio of a political candidate saying something embarrassing, or circulating a fake radio or television broadcast on social media.

The leaders of Play.ht and Descript are acutely aware of these dangers. Play.ht CEO Hammad Syed told me that the company has put several safeguards in place, including manual review of training audio and automatic detection of attempts to generate racist or sexually explicit audio.

Descript takes an extra step to make sure users don’t clone someone else’s voice without permission. When someone tries to create a new Overdub voice, the software asks the owner of the voice to read a short statement into the microphone stating that they agree to have their voice cloned. Descript checks to make sure the voice recorded by the microphone matches the voice in the audio file being used for training. This should make it difficult for anyone to use Overdub for impersonation scams or to clone the voice of a celebrity.

Unlike Play.ht, Descript doesn’t restrict the kind of content people can generate with Overdub once a voice has been created.

Many of the celebrity voice-cloning videos released in recent months were made using software from a company called ElevenLabs. Back in January, 4chan users started using ElevenLabs software to produce fake clips of celebrities engaging in hate speech. ElevenLabs responded by removing the voice-cloning feature from its free tier and releasing a tool to help the public identify fake video clips.

You could imagine this technology becoming a subject of government regulation, but none of the people I talked to for this story seemed to think that was a good idea.

“We’re not looking to ban technology or halt forward progress on technology,” SAG-AFTRA’s Crabtree-Ireland told me. “We are instead looking to work with companies developing these technologies to make sure it’s respectful.” He said he’s gotten a “surprisingly positive reaction” when he’s sought to work with technology companies about implementing appropriate safeguards.

Legislation in this area might ultimately prove futile because it’s only a matter of time before voice cloning software is efficient enough to run entirely on a personal computer. Once that happens, it will become very difficult for governments to limit its distribution or use.

So the most important countermeasure against the misuse of voice cloning may be to make sure the public understands that high-quality voice cloning software exists. Most abuses of voice cloning depend on people wrongly assuming that audio is genuine. If the public knows about voice cloning technology, perhaps they’ll be appropriately cautious about believing the evidence they encounter with their own ears.

Japanese PM Fumio Kishida addresses U.S. 'self-doubt' about world role in remarks to Congress

WASHINGTON — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida asserted in an address to a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday that his country stands with the U.S. at a time when history is at a turning point.

Kishida said the U.S. held a certain reputation decades ago that "shaped the international order" and "championed freedom and democracy."

"You believed that freedom is the oxygen of humanity," he said. "The world needs the United States to continue playing this pivotal role in the affairs of nations. And yet, as we meet here today, I detect an undercurrent of self-doubt among some Americans about what your role in the world should be."

Kishida said that is happening when the world is "at history's turning point" as "freedom and democracy are currently under threat around the globe," climate change is causing natural disasters, and technology such as artificial intelligence is advancing.

Japan faces "an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge" from China," he said. He also spoke about the threats from North Korea and from Russia in Ukraine.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as the United States’ closest friend, tomodachi, the people of Japan are with you, side by side, to assure the survival of liberty," he said. "Not just for our people, but for all people."

He continued: "I am here to say that Japan is already standing shoulder to shoulder with the United States. You are not alone. We are with you."

Kishida shared that he has felt a special connection to the U.S. since he attended his first three years of elementary school in Queens.

"We arrived in the fall of 1963, and for several years my family lived like Americans," he said. "My father would take the subway to Manhattan, where he worked as a trade official. We rooted for the Mets and the Yankees and ate hot dogs at Coney Island. On vacation, we would go to Niagara Falls or here to Washington, D.C."

It was only the second time a Japanese prime minister has formally delivered remarks to Congress. The first time in 2015, when Shinzo Abe spoke with Kishida in attendance as a foreign minister. Abe was assassinated in 2022. The last foreign leader to address lawmakers was Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in July.

Thursday's address also marked the first joint meeting with a foreign leader since Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., took the gavel. Vice President Kamala Harris also presided over the chamber during the speech.

Congressional leaders had invited Kishida to speak to both chambers in early March, with Johnson saying in a statement that it was part of an effort to lay "the foundation for collaboration in the years to come."

Before the address, Kishida met in a room just off the House chamber floor with the Big Four congressional leaders: Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. They didn't take any questions; Johnson joked to Kishida that he had brought along a large media corps from Japan.

"Japan is a close ally — critical to both our national and economic security," Schumer said. "This visit will continue to deepen the diplomatic and security relationship between our two countries and build on the strength of decades of cooperation.”

The visit is notable as Republicans, especially those in the House, resist providing foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and other places; countering China has been a big focus of Kishida's visit to the U.S.

"China's current external stance and military actions present an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge, not only to the peace and security of Japan, but to the peace and stability of the international community at large," Kishida said.

He added: "Russia's unprovoked, unjust and brutal war of aggression against Ukraine has entered its third year. As I often say, Ukraine of today may be East Asia of tomorrow."

Before Kishida was invited, the Republican and Democratic leaders on the House Foreign Affairs Committee urged Johnson to formally ask him to speak to Congress, saying in a letter that it would "signal congressional support for this critical alliance and help Members of Congress understand [Japan's] importance to the economic and strategic interests of the United States."

After the address, Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted a luncheon with Kishida at the State Department.

In the late afternoon, Kishida participated in the inaugural U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilateral summit at the White House, meeting with President Joe Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

During that meeting, Biden said the U.S. defense commitments to Japan and the Philippines are “ironclad.”

“Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty,” he said.

Biden also highlighted technology and clean energy as areas for the “deepening ties” among the three countries.

“We’re securing our semiconductor supply chain,” he said, adding that the U.S. is expanding telecommunications in the Philippines.

In a joint statement after the meeting, the three leaders voiced concerns over what they called China’s “dangerous and aggressive behavior.”

“We steadfastly oppose the dangerous and coercive use of Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea, as well as efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation,” their statement said.

They also expressed opposition to efforts that “seek to undermine Japan’s longstanding and peaceful administration of the Senkaku Islands” in the East China Sea.

On Wednesday, Biden and Kishida announced plans to improve the U.S. military command structure in Japan, which hosts about 54,000 U.S. personnel. The two countries will also form a military-industrial council to explore the kinds of weapons they can produce jointly.

The White House hosted a state dinner for Kishida in the evening. Guests included former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton, as well as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Rebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.

Scott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.

EA - Space settlement and the time of perils: a critique of Thorstad by Matthew Rendall The Nonlinear Library

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Space settlement and the time of perils: a critique of Thorstad, published by Matthew Rendall on April 14, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Given the rate at which existential risks seem to be proliferating, it's hard not to suspect that unless humanity comes up with a real game-changer, in the long run we're stuffed. David Thorstad has recently argued that this poses a major challenge to longtermists who advocate prioritising existential risk. The more likely an x-risk is to destroy us, Thorstad notes, the less likely there is to be a long-term future. Nor can we solve the problem by mitigating this or that particular x-risk - we would have to reduce all of them. The expected value of addressing x-risks may not be so high after all. There would still be an argument for prioritising them if we are passing through a 'time of perils' after which existential risk will sharply fall. But this is unlikely to be the case. Thorstad raises a variety of intriguing questions which I plan to tackle in a later post, picking up in part on Owen Cotton-Barratt's insightful comments here. In this post I'll focus on a particular issue - his claim that settling outer space is unlikely to drive the risk of human extinction low enough to rescue the longtermist case. Like other species, ours seems more likely to survive if it is widely distributed. Some critics, however, argue that space settlements would still be physically vulnerable, and even writers sympathetic to the project maintain they would remain exposed to dangerous information. Certainly many, perhaps most, settlements would remain vulnerable. But would all of them? First let's consider physical vulnerability. Daniel Deudney and Phil (Émile) Torres have warned of the possibility of interplanetary or even interstellar conflict. But once we or other sentient beings spread to other planets, it would render travel between them time-consuming. On the one hand, that would seem to preclude any United Federation of Planets to keep the peace, as Torres notes, but it would also make warfare difficult and - very likely - pointless, just as it once was between Europe and the Americas. It's certainly possible, as Thorstad notes, that some existential threat could doom us all before humanity gets to this point, but it doesn't seem like a cert. Deudney seems to anticipate this objection, and argues that 'the volumes of violence relative to the size of inhabited territories will still produce extreme saturation….[U]ntil velocities catch up with the enlarged distances, solar space will be like the Polynesian diaspora - with hydrogen bombs.' But if islands are far enough apart, the fact that weapons could obliterate them wouldn't matter if there were no way to deliver the weapons. It would still matter, but less so, if it took a long time to deliver the weapons, allowing the targeted island to prepare. Ditto, it would seem, for planets. Suppose that's right. We might still not be out of the woods. Deudney warns that 'giant lasers and energy beams employed as weapons might be able to deliver destructive levels of energy across the distances of the inner solar system in times comparable to ballistic missiles across terrestrial distances.' But he goes on to note that 'the distances in the outer solar system and beyond will ultimately prevent even this form of delivering destructive energy at speeds that would be classified as instantaneous.' That might not matter so much if the destructive energy reached its target in the end. Still, I'd be interested whether any EA Forum readers know whether interstellar death rays of this kind are feasible at all. There's also the question of why war would occur. Liberals maintain that economic interdependence promotes peace, but as critics have long pointed out, it also gives states something to fight a

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