Ever feel attached to your smartphone? Since COVID-19 has occurred in our society and caused masks that cover mouths to be required in many places, those with hearing loss are relying more on live transcription applications on smartphones to aid in understanding since lip reading is no longer possible. In this hearing news segment we discuss several of the transcription apps available, some on just an Android or Apple device, and others are offered on both. Below is a list. We’ve also included information about the Web/Computer Application of the Google Chrome web browser now captioning content (read below to find out more).

Smartphone Applications: (Information below on apps from this blog by Heard That App)

Live Transcribe: Free for Android only.Transcribes live audio. Google Play Store.

Live Caption: Free. Transcribes audio played on your phone (not live conversation). Download

Ava: Free up to 5 hours; $29/month for unlimited captioning. Both Apple and Android. Transcribes live audio. Download

Rogervoice: Free with other RogerVoice app users; 5.99/month for up to an hour; $29.99/month unlimited captioning. Captions phone calls instantly. Apple and Android. Download. 

TextHear: Free for Android users; $.30/minute for its users. Offers voice-to-text for phone calls. Download.

Otter.ai: Free basic version (up to 40 minutes) $8.33/month for Premium and $20/month for Team plans. Apple and Android. Offers the ability to live transcribe and record audio. Download. 

Web Application: (On Computers)

Chrome (the Internet Browser by Google) now has the ability to caption video and audio that you stream on the browser. “Unfortunately, captions aren’t always available for every piece of content. Now with Live Caption on Chrome, you can automatically generate real-time captions for media with audio on your browser. It works across social and video sites, podcasts and radio content, personal video libraries (such as Google Photos), embedded video players, and most web-based video or audio chat services.” Find out more here: https://blog.google/products/chrome/live-caption-chrome/ 

If you were a podcast listener or you have heard about podcasts you might be interested in, Chrome captioning works to caption podcasts as long as you play the podcast on a web-based podcast player using Chrome, such as: Spotify, Player.fm, Cloud Caster, Stitcher, Podchaser, Castbox. Podcasts are a great free educational and entertainment resource that are a free option for gaining information on a variety of topics. And now that the Chrome browser captions them they are accessible to those who need hearing assistance.

As always, if you have applications or technology that is helping you with your hearing loss, please let us know and we would love to share the information. All tips can be sent to Laura our Social Media Specialist at social@hlaatc.org 

Upcoming dates: HLAA-TC Book Club discussing “Deaf Sentence” by David Lodge is Wednesday, April 14 from 4-5:30 on Google Meet. Email Laura before the meeting for link: social@hlaatc.org (if you haven’t already done so). Next HLAA-TC Chapter Zoom Meeting is Saturday, April 17 from 9:30-12. Katherine Teece, AuD “Impact of social distancing on persons with sensory loss during COVID-19 pandemic.” Email Lionel before the meeting for link: treasurer@hlaatc.org