Use Live Transcribe

You can use Live Transcribe on your Android device to capture speech and sound and see them as text on your screen.

Download and turn on Live Transcribe

Important: If you have a Pixel phone, skip to the Pixel section below.

1. Download Live Transcribe & Sound Notifications on Google Play.
2. Go to the Apps section.
3. Tap the Live Transcribe app .
4. Make sure that you're connected to the Internet.
5. Hold your device microphone near the person or sound that you want to capture. The microphone is usually located at the bottom of your device.

Pixel: Turn on Live Transcribe

Live Transcribe is already installed on Pixel phones and selected other Android phones. To turn on Live Transcribe, follow these steps:

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility, then tap Live Transcribe.
3. Tap Open Live Transcribe.
4. To accept the permissions, tap OK.
5. Optional: Change your Live Transcribe shortcut. Learn about accessibility shortcuts.
6. To start Live Transcribe, tap the floating accessibility button with shortcut or other customisable options, like:
   • Quick Settings
   • Volume keys
   • Two-finger swipe up
7. Tap the Accessibility button .
8. Make sure that you're connected to the Internet.
9. Hold your device microphone near the person or sound that you want to capture. The microphone is usually located at the bottom of your device.

Use Live Transcribe in dual screen mode

With Dual Screen mode for foldables, both you and the other person in a conversation can find the transcribed text with the different screens of the device. It allows you to participate in a conversation more fluidly and intuitively. In Dual Screen mode:

• To type and respond, learn how to type a response.
• To read aloud typed messages, tap Text-to-speech (TTS) .
• To adjust suitable font size, on the outer screen, tap Font size . This is supported on foldable devices with Android 14 and up.
• To use Live Transcribe in Dual Screen mode, on the main display, tap Dual Screen .

Use Live Transcribe offline

Download languages for offline use

Download languages for offline use for when your Internet connection is limited, like when you're travelling or in places with a poor connection. It also saves your mobile data plan.

Important:

• On selected Android devices and all Pixel devices that run on Android 12 or later, you can download multiple languages, like English, French and more for offline use.
• On selected Android devices that run on Android 8, 9, 10 or 11, you can download English for offline use.

1. On your device, open Live Transcribe .
2. At the bottom, tap Settings More settings.
3. Scroll to 'Primary language' and 'Secondary language'.
   • Available for download :
     • If this symbol appears at the end of a language, it means that the language is available for you to download.
     • If this symbol doesn't appear at the end of a language, it means that it's not available for you to download.
   • Downloading : Means that you're downloading the language.
   • Done : Means that the language is already downloaded.

Set offline mode preference

To ensure that you get an uninterrupted transcription experience, Live Transcribe automatically enables offline transcription. If you’d like to change it to online, follow the steps below.  

1. On your device, open Live Transcribe .
2. At the bottom, tap Settings   More settings.
3. At the bottom, tap Advanced  Offline transcriptions.
4. Turn off Transcribe offline.

Tips

• When you turn on Transcribe offline , you can always use offline mode for the languages that you've downloaded, even when there's an Internet connection.
• When you turn off Transcribe offline off, Live Transcribe will automatically switch between online and offline for the languages that you've downloaded depending on your network stabilities.

Manage your transcription history

Important: If transcription history is turned off, your transcriptions will be deleted after 24 hours. You can't export transcriptions from Live Transcribe. However, you can copy and paste text.

You can find your transcription history in Live Transcribe for up to three days. After three days, it's automatically deleted, and you can delete your transcription history any time. To find your transcriptions, scroll up on the transcription screen.

Audio and transcriptions are securely encrypted and temporarily stored in the Live Transcribe app.

Turn transcription history on or off

1. Open Live Transcribe and tap Settings .
2. Turn Transcription history on or off.

Delete transcription history

1. Open Live Transcribe and tap Settings .
2. Tap More settings  Delete history.

Tips to use Live Transcribe

Type a response

You can type a response instead of speaking during a conversation.

1. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Type .
2. Enter text using the on-screen keyboard.
3. To return to full screen, tap Back

Copy and paste transcription text

• To copy and paste text from the transcription, press and hold the text and tap Copy.
• To copy the full transcription, press and hold the text and tap Select all  Copy.

Clear the screen

To clear the screen, swipe up. To bring back the transcript, swipe down.

Search in transcription

1. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Settings .
2. Tap Search transcription.
3. Type your search term.
4. Tap to view a search result in context.

Hide or show sounds

Along with speech, Live Transcribe can show you non-speech sounds, including human sounds like 'Laughing' or environmental sounds like 'Doorbell' or 'Music'.

To hide or show non-speech sounds:

1. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Settings .
2. Tap More settings.
3. Tap Show sound labels.

To see how much sound is present, look at the sound indicator at the top right of your screen .

Pause transcription for easier reading

1. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Settings .
2. Tap More settings.
3. Tap Advanced, then tap Show hold button.
4. To return to Live Transcribe, tap Back .
5. To pause or resume the transcript, tap Pause .

Change Live Transcribe settings

Add custom words

If your conversations often include uncommon words or phrases, you can add them so that they can be transcribed.

1. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Settings .
2. Tap More settings.
3. Tap Custom words.
4. Tap Add word.

Vibrate when name is spoken

You can get notified with a vibration when someone speaks a word or name that you specify.

1. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Settings .
2. Tap More settings.
3. Tap Vibrate when name is spoken.
4. Tap Add name.

Change text size

1. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Settings .
2. To change the text size, use the slider.

Change language

1. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Settings .
2. Tap More settings.
3. To set your primary language, tap Primary language, then choose a language from the list.
4. Optional: To set a secondary language, tap Secondary language, then choose a language from the list.

Tip: To change language quickly while Live Transcribe is running, tap the language (such as English) at the bottom of your screen.

Connect an external microphone

You can use an external microphone instead of the microphone on your device.

1. Connect an external microphone to your device.
2. While Live Transcribe is running, tap Settings .
3. Tap More settings.
4. Tap Microphone.
5. Select the external microphone from the list.

Usage limitations

Google does not intend uses of Live Transcribe to create obligations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended ('HIPAA'). Google makes no representations that Live Transcribe satisfies HIPAA requirements.

Get help

For more help with Android accessibility, contact the Google Disability Support team.