How do I get Voice-to-Text back in my Android 4.3 for SMS texting?

[Danny D'Amico]

All of a sudden, I lost the little microphone icon in my default SMS
text application on the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 on Android 4.3.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7373/12344496284_046d7946d1_o.png

This is an important omission, since I do offline speech-to-text
SMS text messages (I almost never use my fat fingers to text).

To get back that offline microphone app, I suspect I need to *install*
something, because it *was* there from the beginning - but now it's
(suddenly) gone!

But what free app do I download to get *back* that little microphone?

[Danny D'Amico]

On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 15:43:25 +0000, Danny D'Amico wrote:

> But what free app do I download to get *back* that little microphone?

Googling, I first thought that little microphone which is now missing
in the keyboard might have originally come from "Google Voice Search":
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.voicesearch

But, "Google Voice Search" is already installed, and has been installed
since before I upgraded from Android 4.2.1 to Android 4.3.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7323/12347746965_fb97022d25_o.jpg

Q: What is the app that adds a microphone to the standard keyboard?

[Danny D'Amico]

On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 09:12:07 -0800, jurb6006 wrote:

> I don't know if this applies to you but a friend of mine said he had that
> for a time and later found out it was only a free trial and then they
> wantted money. He no longer has it.

Well, if I knew what had put the little offline microphone into the
default keyboard in the first place, I could look up the terms and
conditions - but I don' think it was trialware because the voice-to-text
microphone was on the phone for more than a year.

That keyboard microphone disappeared about the time I upgraded to Android 4.3.

What I've done, in the meantime, is just now I installed a dozen purported
offline voice-to-text applications.

Maybe one of those will bring the microphone back.

[Danny D'Amico]

On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 18:41:08 +0000, Danny D'Amico wrote:

> Maybe one of those will bring the microphone back.

None of these voice-to-text apps worked, so, something is missing:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5548/12348644203_c7fe100b04_o.gif

Each app gave a different (but similar) error:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2835/12348936623_2c9096ec75_o.png
- Sorry, you have no app for voice recognition.
- You have no app to recognize speech, sorry.
- Recognizer not present.
- Recognition service is not available.
- Not a system app. Illegal installation.
- Voice recognition is not installed.

Perhaps the most detailed error message was:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2827/12349496964_8cf9023379_o.jpg
Runtime Error: No activity found to handle
intent {
act=android.speech.action.RECOGNIZE_SPEECH
(has extraqs)}

But, since "Google Search" *is* installed, what are these error
messages trying to tell me is actually missing?

[Danny D'Amico]

On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 19:29:26 +0000, Danny D'Amico wrote:

I'm googling for the error:

RuntimeError: No activity found to handle intent {act=android.speech.action.RECOGNIZE_SPEECH (has extras)}

and I'm finding it's a common one.

[Danny D'Amico]

On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 19:34:05 +0000, Danny D'Amico wrote:

> RuntimeError: No activity found to handle intent
> {act=android.speech.action.RECOGNIZE_SPEECH (has extras)}

I'm pretty sure something is missing, but what?
Here's all the "google stuff" I have installed:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3832/12349659853_fb72dfb18f_o.png

- Gmail
- Google Play Books
- Google Play Games
- Google Play Movies & TV
- Google Play Music
- Google Play Store
- Google Text-to-speech Engine

Do you recognize what is missing?

[Ben Ritchey]

Check settings, language & input, mine works (v4.0.4) and is set to default
to Google keyboard, Google voice typing is set to automatic ...should place
a microphone on keyboard when you tap input area!
--
Ben aka cMech http://cmech.dynip.com

[Danny D'Amico]

On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 22:04:56 +0000, Ben Ritchey wrote:

> Check settings, language & input, mine works (v4.0.4) and is set to
> default to Google keyboard, Google voice typing is set to automatic
> ...should place a microphone on keyboard when you tap input area!

I've hit every single button or option in Android 4.3 "Language & Input".

They moved it, in 4.3 to:
Settings->My Device->Language and input->Default->Google Keyboard

I even tried removing and adding "Google Keyboard", all to no avail.

Once Google Keyboard is selected in "Language and input", clicking
Google Keyboard->Settings->Voice input key=checked

There's nothing else about the audio or microphone input to the
keyboard.

I think my problem is that neither I, nor anyone else, knows how
audio works on Android. Something fundamental is missing or corrupt.

[RobertMacy]

On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 11:41:08 -0700, Danny D'Amico <da...@is.invalid> wrote:

>> ...snip...

>
> Maybe one of those will bring the microphone back.
>

get a gmail account with voicemail capability. the telephone number you
get converts voice to text and emails you the message.

it's free, too. doesn't do a bad job on numbers, but it's a hoot on
dialects.

[Danny D'Amico]

On Fri, 07 Feb 2014 06:18:47 -0700, RobertMacy wrote:

> get a gmail account with voicemail capability. the telephone number you
> get converts voice to text and emails you the message.

I apologize for not being specific enough in the request.

What I'm trying to accomplish, is, speaking into the phone, using the
microphone of the phone instead of the keyboard, and having that spoken
sentence transcribed into an SMS text message.

I'm pretty sure "something" deep inside the operating system is
corrupted, since I've uninstalled and re-installed multiple keyboards,
and a half-dozen voice-to-sms programs, and all those speech-to-text
programs complain about a missing underlying hook:

RuntimeError: No activity found to handle intent
{act=android.speech.action.RECOGNIZE_SPEECH (has extras)}

At this point, I probably need to either find someone who knows what that
underlying program actually is; or, if it's an inconspicuous part of the
Android operating system, then I need to re-install the OS.

Is there a way to update the Android operating system on a T-Mobile
Samsung Galaxy S3 running Android 4.3 when the operating system is
slightly corrupted (but otherwise up to date already)?

[Juan Wei]

Danny D'Amico has written on 2/7/2014 6:23 AM:

> On Thu, 06 Feb 2014 22:04:56 +0000, Ben Ritchey wrote:
>
>> Check settings, language & input, mine works (v4.0.4) and is set to
>> default to Google keyboard, Google voice typing is set to automatic
>> ...should place a microphone on keyboard when you tap input area!
>
> I've hit every single button or option in Android 4.3 "Language & Input".
>
> They moved it, in 4.3 to:
> Settings->My Device->Language and input->Default->Google Keyboard

Under Settings > My Device > Language and input, I have:

Default Swiftkey
Samsung keyboard
Swype
Google Keyboard
Google voice typing <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
<check> Swiftkey
Swype + Dragon

Do you have Google voice typing???

[josephkk]

On Fri, 7 Feb 2014 14:58:23 +0000 (UTC), Danny D'Amico <da...@is.invalid>
wrote:

Call me crazy but didn't your problems start when you upgraded Android
itself? Maybe the answer is a downgrade?

?-)

[Danny D'Amico]

On Sun, 09 Feb 2014 13:43:13 -0800, josephkk wrote:

> Call me crazy but didn't your problems start when you upgraded Android
> itself? Maybe the answer is a downgrade?

Unfortunatly, I've installed so much on this Android phone that I really
do not know /when/ the problems started.

While cleaning things up, /think/ I may have uninstalled a Google "service"
that apparently controls the voice recognition.

So, what I really need to figure out is how to get a system /back/ to
where it was, with respect to all the /required/ services.

Does anyone know if there is a way to check for all the required
services (because clearly I'm missing one of them)?

[~BD~]

Have you tried 'settings'? - http://www.wikihow.com/Reset-Your-Android-Phone

Good luck!

-

[Sjouke Burry]

Easy. Make a backup before you start experimenting.
No backup? In that case you are sure out of luck.

[dave]

Every carrier has its own suite of installed apps. I have a Credo phone.
I get Google Play, Plus Samsung and Sprint Stores. You should be able to
flash it back to Factory. Backup your data files onto a removeable.
Remove it. Then Restore.

[Danny D'Amico]

On Fri, 07 Feb 2014 13:37:35 -0500, Juan Wei wrote:

> Default Swiftkey
> Samsung keyboard Swype Google Keyboard Google voice typing
> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
> <check> Swiftkey
> Swype + Dragon
>
> Do you have Google voice typing???

I did all that.
I uninstalled and re-installed Google Keyboard too.
No joy.

[C.Joseph]

Danny D'Amico <dan...@is.invalid> Wrote in message:

Apparently, on my Galaxy Victory it was not wanting to work if I
did not have a valid Internet connection. I installed the Google
Voice Typing module for the XPosed Framework and now I have voice
typing when-ever I need it.

--
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Victory:
Ciao . . . C.Joseph

?Listen carefully to how a person speaks about other people to
you. This his how they will speak about you to other
people.?

?Unknown

[David Taylor]

On 16/02/2014 16:20, C.Joseph wrote:
[]

> Apparently, on my Galaxy Victory it was not wanting to work if I
> did not have a valid Internet connection. I installed the Google
> Voice Typing module for the XPosed Framework and now I have voice
> typing when-ever I need it.

Needing an Internet connection is true of the Apple devices as well -
voice recognition is done centrally, not on the device itself which may
lack the capacity for such a job.

--
Cheers,
David
Web: http://www.satsignal.eu

[Andy Burns]

David Taylor wrote:

> On 16/02/2014 16:20, C.Joseph wrote:
>
>> Apparently, on my Galaxy Victory it was not wanting to work if I
>> did not have a valid Internet connection.
>

> Needing an Internet connection is true of the Apple devices as well -
> voice recognition is done centrally, not on the device itself which may
> lack the capacity for such a job.

On Android devices (not sure which versions, certainly 4.2 and later)
there's an option to download the speech recognition engine for offline use.

[d...@knowledgeware.co.nz]

Hey Danny,

You've done some great research in this thread, and I too have been hunting for that elusive microphone icon so I can talk out my texts... I too have just upgraded to Android 4.3.

I have just fixed what my problem was.

On the suggestion of the comment somewhere in this thread of downgrading the installed version I went hunting on the phone to see if I can restore a previous version. In the end I didn't need to, as I found that the service that provides the MICROPHONE option is called Google Search. It just so happened I disabled it when I went on a rampage of trying to optimise my phone.

Here's were I went to enable things on Android 4.3.
o Home Screen | Menu | Settings | More ... | Application Manager
o Swipe screen from right to left several times: from downloaded, past SD CARD, past running, then to DISABLED (if you don't see a disabled tab, then this suggested cure is not for you - you have another issue - try googling or installing Google Search)
o click on GOOGLE SEARCH, choose enable.
o exit out, and return to a text/sms screen
o Long press on the button to the left of the space bar
o Yep, Microphone is now there, so choose it.

Good luck mate
DJ

[time...@gmail.com]

Awsome, that was the problem. I too had disabled a service that controlled the microphone.

Thanks for posting the answer.

[billvoe...@gmail.com]

You are my new (temporary) hero! After 3 calls to Verizon tech support ( 2 to 2nd level - a joke)the best they could come up with was a factory reset, which would have lost data and recordings. Motorola was also no help. Your answer worked! How they can not know what turns out to be a simple fix?!

[jfik...@gmail.com]

How do I get rid of google voice and go back to my vioce mail that go's to my phone

[Alan Meyer]

This happened to me on Android 4.4.2. I got the microphone back. I
don't know if 4.2 is the same, but maybe it is. Try this:

Go to Settings->Language & Input and make sure Google Voice Typing is
checked.

I know you've done that, but that's just half of what needs to be done.

Then touch Language, and select English. Without that, I think the
program still won't give you the microphone because it has to know what
language you're using before it can transcribe voice.

If you see an 'Auto' option for language, you can experiment with it,
but I don't think it will work. I think you need to use 'English'.

If that works or fails, let us know.

I got voice typing back by a much more circuitous route but I think the
above is all I really had to do.

The above advice came from a fellow name H Pham on the Yahoo Tracfone
Users group. If this works, he's the guy who deserves the credit. If
it doesn't work I'll tell you the terrible way I got it working, which
involved downloading Google Translate.

One way or another, I'm pretty sure it will work and I think it very
likely that it's a configuration problem, not a problem with needing to
download software. I think my downloading Google Translate caused
Google Translate to set the right configuration settings for me. I
don't think the software itself was needed.

Alan

[Alan Meyer]

I just posted a different solution that worked on an LG 34C running
4.4.2. The solution you posted is clearly a good one for Danny's device.

I suspect that what is happening is that there's a configuration setting
and various apps that need that setting, one being Google Search and
another being Google Translate, set it automatically.

It will be interesting to see if turning off Google Search causes the
microphone to revert.

Alan

[iamprinc...@gmail.com]

I NEED TO GET MY MICPHONE BACK FOR MY VOICE VOICE TEXTING.

[mikeg.da...@gmail.com]

Try pressing and holding the button it should show all the options i had the same problem

[zetsu...@gmail.com]

I'll cut to the chase:
RE-ENABLE GOOGLE SEARCH.

good, now you can try all the obvious stuff also mentioned here
Cheers

[t2b...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 8:43:25 AM UTC-7, Danny D'Amico wrote:
> All of a sudden, I lost the little microphone icon in my default SMS
> text application on the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 on Android 4.3.
> http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7373/12344496284_046d7946d1_o.png
>
> This is an important omission, since I do offline speech-to-text
> SMS text messages (I almost never use my fat fingers to text).
>
> To get back that offline microphone app, I suspect I need to *install*
> something, because it *was* there from the beginning - but now it's
> (suddenly) gone!
>
> But what free app do I download to get *back* that little microphone?

=====================
Temporary recovery, a couple of days before updates become corrupted again. Then repeat this procedure.

Turn off & Uninstall the UPDATES to the "Google" app... and restart the phone, for good measure. Turn the app back on. It may now be Google Search in the turned off column of application manager. At this point voice to text will work but the UI will have reverted to original factory version. The app will now be eligible for updates again, so apply them again.

In a day or two, you may have to repeat this reset procedure. After a while you'll develop a little speed. Right now I'm checking to see if a new Verizon app on my phone, called Verizon Support and Protection, may be causing this problem. Lots of overlap with the Google service.

-tom