How to transcribe speech using Google’s Live Transcribe app

Sydney Butler | Dec 8 2019 - 8:11 pm PT

Speech-to-text technology has come a long way since the days of slowly droning into a microphone, hoping that the dictation software gets it at least half right. These days, applications like Siri or the Google Assistant can understand natural speech in real time, with high levels of accuracy. Using your voice to write or control your tech is pretty convenient, but that same technology can be pretty useful for people with hearing problems or anyone who needs live transcriptions of spoken language. That’s where Google’s Live Transcribe comes into the picture.

This amazing app is the product of a collaboration with Gallaudet University, which specializes in deaf and hard-of-hearing education.

Obviously that means this app can be invaluable for people with hearing difficulties, but it’s also useful for journalists or getting quick transcripts of meetings and informal conversations. Here’s how to use the app.

Download Live Transcribe from the Google Play Store
Open the app
Start speaking

1.Download Live Transcribe from the Google Play Store

Just head over to the Live Transcribe app page and install it to your device.

2.Open the app

With the app installed, simply open it. You’ll see this when its ready for you to speak.

You may have to grant it audio recording permissions first, for obvious reasons.

3.Start speaking

Now anyone who speaks will have their audio transcribed.

Additional info

You can select additional languages. Choose a secondary language and simply tab on the language bar at the bottom to swap between them. This is useful in bilingual contexts.

You can select, copy, and paste text just as with any other app. So if you want to transfer transcribed text to something like Google Docs, you can. Google’s Live Transcribe is a pretty minimalist app, but that’s actually a strength. It takes just seconds to get going and it works incredibly well in most circumstances.

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