Live Transcribe & Notification

Research at Google

About this app

Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications makes everyday conversations and surrounding sounds more accessible among people who are deaf and hard of hearing, using just your Android phone or tablet.

On most devices, you can directly access Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications with these steps:
1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility, then tap Live Transcribe, or Sound Notifications, depending on which app you’d like to start.
3. Use the Accessibility button, gesture or quick setting (https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/7650693) to start Live Transcribe or Sound Notifications.

Sound Notifications:
• Get notified of potential risky situations and personal situations based on sounds happening at home (for example, smoke alarm, siren, baby sounds).
• Add custom sounds to get notified when your appliances beep.• Get notifications with a flashing light or vibration to your mobile device or wearable.
• List view lets you go back in history (currently limited to 12 hours) to see what was happening around you.

Real-time transcription:
• Transcribes in real-time in over 80 languages and dialects.
• Add custom words that you use frequently, like names or household items.
• Set your device to vibrate when someone says your name.
• Type responses in your conversation. Bring up your device’s keyboard and type your words for a continuous dialogue. Transcriptions still appear while you type.
• Use external microphones found in wired headsets, Bluetooth headsets, and USB mics for better audio reception.

Referring back to transcription:
• Choose to save transcriptions for 3 days. Saved transcriptions will stay locally on your device for 3 days, so you can copy and paste them elsewhere. (By default, transcriptions are not saved.)
• Search within saved transcriptions.
• Touch and hold text in transcription to copy and paste.

Requirements:
• Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and up.

Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications was made in collaboration with Gallaudet University, the premier Deaf and hard of hearing university in the US.

Join the https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/accessible to provide feedback and receive product updates. For help using Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications, connect with us at https://g.co/disabilitysupport.

Permissions Notice
Microphone: Live Transcribe needs microphone access to transcribe the speech around you. The audio is not stored after the transcription is processed. Sound Notifications needs microphone access to listen for sounds happening around you. The audio is also not stored after processing is finished.
Accessibility Service: Since this app is an accessibility service, it can observe your actions.
Notifications: Sound Notifications featuresrequire notifications access in order to notify you of sounds.
Nearby devices: Live Transcribe needs Nearby devices access to connect with your Bluetooth devices for microphone.

Ratings and reviews

Discovering this app was a lifechanger for my deaf father. However, using it offline on his tablet, which would be very important when going to places without WiFi, was available for a short time this summer but not anymore - the option just disappeared. I had the language pack downloaded and could use it offline on my phone YESTERDAY - but that also disappeared overnight!! I had screenshots and compared the app version but it was 100% the same. Very confusing and frustrating for users.

This would be a 5* if the UI would be better. A long text with interruptions is very hard to save, since you can only select blocks and after every save, you're reset to the last word. So I spend more time scrolling up than selecting/saving, this can take minutes and it's easy to miss sections. In brief: better save options and easier navigation would make this a 5* app. Transcription is good but sometimes hilarious, the names Lucy and Jane alone have given me so many surprises.

I completely depend on this app. I've been using it for the last four years for all face-to-face conversation and love it. Thank you for creating it. If I were to ask for one improvement it would be to the benefit of the millions of us deaf who speak too loudly (or softly). The Current Level indicator could be improved for example to show colored alerts when your voice is spiking 10 decs above ambient noise (sure to be appreciated at concerts but not in hospitals or meetings)

What's new

• We’ve improved the user experience of Sound Notifications.