offline speech to text

Angus Jones

unread,

Jan 29, 2019, 11:50:07 PM1/29/19

to

Is there an application that gives android 6 offline speech to text
dictation to a file?

micky

unread,

Jan 30, 2019, 8:25:46 AM1/30/19

to

In comp.mobile.android, on Tue, 29 Jan 2019 20:50:05 -0800, Angus Jones

<ajo...@farmer.biz> wrote:

>Is there an application that gives android 6 offline speech to text
>dictation to a file?

Quite a few it seems but I haven't tried any of them.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=speech%20to%20text&c=apps

Angus Jones

unread,

Jan 30, 2019, 1:23:08 PM1/30/19

to

Wed, 30 Jan 2019 08:25:44 -0500: micky:

> Quite a few it seems but I haven't tried any of them.
> https://play.google.com/store/search?q=speech%20to%20text&c=apps

I think all of them use the default Google online speech to text engine.
But I don't think I understand how the offline speech to text works.

All those apps seem to use the default online speech to text engine.
That means the problem isn't the app but changing the default STT engine.

I don't say I understand this but I think the android 6 default engine is
com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

That means the solution I am trying to figure out requires solving
(1) Can I change that default SST engine to always work offline only?
(2) Can I change that default SST engine to write directly to a file?
(3) Can I replace that default SST engine with an offline default engine?

Carlos E.R.

unread,

Jan 30, 2019, 2:08:07 PM1/30/19

to

On 30/01/2019 05.50, Angus Jones wrote:
> Is there an application that gives android 6 offline speech to text
> dictation to a file?

I think it requires a large local database. But then Google recognizes
several languages and you only need one.

There are proprietary solutions out there, but not necessarily on
Android. TomTom uses one, probably running on Linux.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Angus Jones

unread,

Jan 31, 2019, 12:52:13 AM1/31/19

to

Wed, 30 Jan 2019 20:04:48 +0100: Carlos E.R.:

> I think it requires a large local database. But then Google recognizes
> several languages and you only need one.
>
> There are proprietary solutions out there, but not necessarily on
> Android. TomTom uses one, probably running on Linux.

I only need an american offline sst engine that writes to a file.
Its ok to be the google sst engine if it works only offline.

And if it writes to a file.
But how?

There is an api in android 6 but I don't understand a word of it.
https://developer.android.com/reference/android/speech/tts/TextToSpeech.Engine

When I look at any one app, it says it uses the google sst engine.

Please take a peek at this app just as one example.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speechtexter.speechtexter&hl=en_US

The text says that it uses the default google speech to text engine
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox

What I want to do is find an android 6 offline american sst engine.

If the google sst can be set up to only work offline that might work.
And if the google sst could be set up to write to a file that might work.

Carlos E.R.

unread,

Jan 31, 2019, 5:36:07 AM1/31/19

to

On 31/01/2019 06.52, Angus Jones wrote:
> Wed, 30 Jan 2019 20:04:48 +0100: Carlos E.R.:
>
>> I think it requires a large local database. But then Google recognizes
>> several languages and you only need one.
>>
>> There are proprietary solutions out there, but not necessarily on
>> Android. TomTom uses one, probably running on Linux.
>
> I only need an american offline sst engine that writes to a file.
> Its ok to be the google sst engine if it works only offline.

I think you need another engine, not the google one.

--
Cheers, Carlos.

micky

unread,

Jan 31, 2019, 9:12:43 AM1/31/19

to

In comp.mobile.android, on Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:23:02 -0800, Angus Jones

<ajo...@farmer.biz> wrote:

>Wed, 30 Jan 2019 08:25:44 -0500: micky:
>
>> Quite a few it seems but I haven't tried any of them.
>> https://play.google.com/store/search?q=speech%20to%20text&c=apps
>
>I think all of them use the default Google online speech to text engine.
>But I don't think I understand how the offline speech to text works.

You did say offline. I forgot, very quickly it seems, and I didn't
check if any of these worked that way.

Angus Jones

unread,

Jan 31, 2019, 12:23:49 PM1/31/19

to

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 11:33:20 +0100: Carlos E.R.:

> I think you need another engine, not the google one.

I do not understand how the default sst engine works but I think you are
correct.

I'm looking for an android 6 american sst engine that works offline & that
writes to a file. If that is a google engine that is ok as long as it
always works offline.

Isn't this a universal need for almost anyone who isn't always online?

Carlos E.R.

unread,

Jan 31, 2019, 12:48:07 PM1/31/19

to

But the Android ecosystem is designed to be very portable (in pocket
possibly) and online. And to know to the location.

The first condition means that the machines use as little battery as
they can get by, meaning less computer power than a laptop. Less cpu,
less ram, less disk (generally, surely there are exceptions and also
cost a packet).

--
Cheers, Carlos.

Arlen Holder

unread,

Dec 27, 2019, 9:52:20 PM12/27/19

to

On Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:46:11 +0100, Carlos E.R. wrote:

>> I'm looking for an android 6 american sst engine that works offline & that
>> writes to a file. If that is a google engine that is ok as long as it
>> always works offline.
>>
>> Isn't this a universal need for almost anyone who isn't always online?
>
> But the Android ecosystem is designed to be very portable (in pocket
> possibly) and online. And to know to the location.
>
> The first condition means that the machines use as little battery as
> they can get by, meaning less computer power than a laptop. Less cpu,
> less ram, less disk (generally, surely there are exceptions and also
> cost a packet).

UPDATE:
<https://i.postimg.cc/DZhJ3sft/recorder01.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/76NCH6fb/recorder02.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/zG2nnFzg/recorder03.jpg>

In Android 9, I think we finally have this capability of offline speech to
text and then saved to a file, as explained in this thread today:
o Offline speech-to-text recorder/transcription unofficial Google Recorder APK port now available for many Android phones
<https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.mobile.android/_Amn35T16NA>

Here's what I tried on my new $100 Moto G7 on Android 9 (Pie) today:
1. I installed the XDA Developers' port of the "Google Recorder" APK.
2. I turned off WiFi & Cellular Data (and put the phone on Airplane Mode).
3. I recorded a series of audio files and saved them.
4. I pressed the button to transcribe them to text offline.
5. I searched offline for a keyword in one of the transcribed files.
6. I selected that transcription & pressed the "share" button.
7. That gave me the option to share as audio, text, or both.

If you share as "text", it will provide options for note-taking apps.
If you share as "both", you only get the option of email apps.
<https://i.postimg.cc/zG2nnFzg/recorder03.jpg>

--
Usenet is a wonderful public potluck where adults share useful information.