Transcription - Other Options

The new audio dictation feature is wonderful. I’ve been wishing for something like this for years. And it works surprisingly well.

However as a professional writer I often dictate first drafts into my phone (using fwiw RecUp rather than the stock app), and I also take lots of voice notes. So I stay on top of the various transcription options, and periodically do a mass comparison, seeing how different services handle the same dictated text.

For now, I’ve settled on TranscribeMe, which offers expensive human transcription but also an automated service for 7¢/minute that can’t be beat. What’s more, you micropay as you go, with no need to pre-purchase packets of minutes. The UI is quirky (if upload process hangs, just reload web page), but transcription is excellent. Quite a bit better than SIRI via Draft (I’ve compared them).

Going the SIRI/Drafts route has advantages. It’s more economical, and way more convenient for short bits of transcription. Also, important to bear in mind that online transcription services don’t recognize meta commands like “period”, “open parenthesis”, “new line”, etc. That’s quite a downside.

Anyway, I’m posting this in case anyone’s looking for something more sturdy for certain instances. I have no affiliation with TranscribeMe or the people behind it.

A bit more here.

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