Does anyone use an iPhone/iPad dictation app? Any recommendations?

I'd like to give this a try at home, but don't want to spend a lot of $$ until we know whether or not it's useful.

Google Docs has a free feature. It's not perfect, but then no speech recognition ever is.

We usually just use Siri for a draft, text/email it to self, and make corrections in the wordprocessor of choice.

Dyslexic/Dysgraphic+ DD10 has been leaning heavily on voice to text for the past couple of years but Dragon had difficulty picking up her voice. (Not designed for use with children's voices plus her speech issues made it even harder.) The built in iPhone and iPad apps worked much better but no where near perfect. Last spring they tested using the built in software on iPad 3 or above and it works like a charm. There is also a feature in CoWriter that allows her to move back and forth between voice-to-text and keyboarding so if there is a word it doesn't understand she can type her attempt or she can have the iPad "speak" her word prediction options. It proved so much better for her that our district agreed to upgrade and purchased her a new machine for this school year (I think it's an iPad Air) and we are considering buying a new one for her to use at home as well.

Our dysgraphic/dyspraxic ds prefers the built-in voice-to-text on the iPad, and fwiw, I know quite a few adults with no disabilities who use Siri on their phones as a go-to. DS has also used Dragon both on the laptop and on his iPad, fwiw, the iPad version works fine for him, and didn't cost more than $10 (it's been awhile though since we purchased it). I'd definitely just give the default built-in voice-to-text a try first though

polarbear

I am embarrassed to admit I had no idea Siri could do this! My overall opinion of Siri has been pretty mixed (when I need her, I can't figure her out). Of course, my DD already knew about this feature, and we played with it on the way to school today. Impressive! DD was talking in a very odd, unnatural way (kind of like a rap) while demonstrating--and Siri caught every single word. And that was with a lot of ambient noise!

I see a lot of potential with this, and yes, even for myself. I'm not sure that DS has a real writing disability, but he definitely has a lot of trouble with initiation (aka writer's block, or maybe just his rigid nature). It seems like this would be a good way to start a draft--get down some key ideas and then edit.

Thank you, everyone! I'm kind of a Luddite...time for some new learning.

eco, I am not all that fond of Siri myself! Perhaps it's just a personality issue, but she refuses to cooperate for me lol!

I forgot to mention above, my 13yo dd and her friends use the voice-to-text on the iPad all the time for schoolwork. Not because they have any kind of disability, but just because it's quicker than typing for them.

polarbear

Supposedly, the more you use voice recognition apps, the better they get. They learn your phonemic pronunciation and your vocabulary, and adapt accordingly. Siri and Google voice do this, and other brands may as well.

I think typing might be faster for me...I get stumped when I have to do something as simple as leaving a voicemail!

This technology thing is so cool! 😜

With an iDevice, you don't even need to buy an app - the built-in voice to text is the best I've seen (though it can still hard with children's voices). Any place where you would pull up a keyboard on screen, there's a microphone icon next to the space bar. Click it, and you are on voice recognition.