Google is focused on continually adding great features to Android, including accessibility features like Switch Control, direct translation, Live Captions, and other features that are especially useful for single-minded people.
In this article, we explain everything you need to know about Live Transcript and how to activate and use it on Pixel and other Android phones:
What is the Live Transcribe feature?
Live Transcribe is one of Google's accessibility features in Android, which uses speech recognition technology to display text on a phone screen to facilitate conversations with people who are hard of hearing. Live Transcribe was developed in collaboration with Gallaudet University, a leading university for the deaf.
How to activate the Live Transcribe feature on Pixel phones:
Live Transcribe is available in the Settings app in the Accessibility section on the Pixel 3+ and most recent Android phones. If your phone does not have this feature, you can install the standalone Live Transcribe app from Google Play on devices running Android 6.0 or later.
To enable it on Pixel phones:
- Go to the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Accessibility.
- Scroll down to the Subtitles section and tap Live Transcript.
- Click Enable Direct Copy to start using the Direct Copy feature.
- You can also enable the Live Transcribe shortcut option. A small icon will then appear on the home screen so you can easily access Direct Type at any time.
How to activate the Live Transcribe feature on Samsung phones:
If you are using a recent Samsung Galaxy phone, Live Mirroring is probably built in and you can enable it by following these steps:
- Go to the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap Accessibility.
- Click on the Hearing Enhancement option and select Direct Transcription.
- Click Enable Direct Copy to start using the Direct Copy feature.
- Enable the Live Transcription shortcut option to display an icon for this feature for easy access.
How to use Live Transcribe on other Android phones:
If your phone does not have Live Transcribe built in, you can install and use the Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications app from Google Play directly on your phone.
How does Live Transcribe work?
The app will automatically pick up any language in the selected language and you can tell it's ready to transcribe a conversation when you see the "Ready to transcribe" message. Then hold your phone close to the source of the sound and the feature will pick up your speech with great accuracy. The text of the conversation will then appear on your phone screen, and you can type a response after tapping the keyboard icon that appears at the bottom of the screen.
Live Transcribe is available in 80 languages, including variants of some languages. You can choose your primary and secondary language by changing your language preferences by following the steps below:
- Click the gear icon in the lower left corner of the application screen.
- Click More settings.
- Choose Primary or Secondary based on the language you want to use.
How to manage your Live Transcribe chat history:
By default, Google stores live written chat history for three days. You can turn off this option to clear history automatically after 24 hours. To do this, follow these steps:
- Access more settings in the app.
- Go to (save) section and uncheck (copy history), then the app will automatically delete your chat history after 24 hours.
How to pause copying for easier reading:
Live transcription can sometimes be difficult to follow. In this case, you can follow these steps to enable the Hold button, which allows you to pause the transcription until you can read the conversation and then finish the transcription:
- Open the Live Transcribe app, tap the gear icon and go to More settings.
- Scroll down to the advanced section.
- Activate the "Show wait button" option here.
- Go back to the home screen and find the pause button at the bottom.