Speech to text
Convert your voice to text instantly. Speak into your microphone and watch the words appear.
The history of speech recognition
Teaching machines to hear took far longer than teaching them to speak. Bell Labs' Audrey system could recognise spoken digits in 1952 — one speaker, ten words. IBM's Shoebox managed sixteen words a decade later, and it took until the 1990s for products like Dragon NaturallySpeaking to handle continuous natural dictation, after users had spent years pausing… between… every… word. The deep-learning revolution of the 2010s changed everything: accuracy jumped past 95%, voice assistants went mainstream, and browsers gained the Web Speech Recognition API that powers this tool — real-time transcription that once required thousand-dollar software, now a microphone permission away.
Continuous mode vs single phrase
In continuous mode the microphone stays active after each phrase you complete. You can speak naturally in full sentences and paragraphs, pausing between thoughts, and the recognition keeps running. This is the best mode for dictation, note-taking, and transcribing longer content. With continuous mode off the recognition stops after you complete a single phrase or after a brief silence. This mode is useful when you only need to transcribe one sentence at a time.
Tips for accurate transcription
Speak clearly and at a natural pace — rushing reduces accuracy. Use a quiet environment with minimal background noise. Position your microphone close to your mouth. Speak in complete sentences rather than individual words — context helps the recognition engine make better predictions. Say punctuation marks out loud — "period", "comma", "question mark" — when you need them. In continuous mode, pause briefly between sentences to give the engine time to finalize each phrase before moving on.
Common uses for speech to text
Dictation for writers and bloggers who think faster than they type. Meeting and interview transcription directly into the browser. Note-taking during lectures or calls. Accessibility for users with motor impairments who find typing difficult. Language practice where hearing your own transcribed speech helps identify pronunciation issues. Draft writing where you want to capture ideas quickly without worrying about typing speed.
Frequently asked questions
How does the speech to text tool work?
Click the microphone button, grant your browser permission to use the mic, and speak — the transcription appears in the text box in real time, usually within a fraction of a second of each phrase. The recognition itself is performed by the Web Speech Recognition API built into your browser, and TextlyPop never receives your audio; the page only displays the text the browser hands back. From there you can edit, copy, or send the transcript to other tools like the word counter.
Which browsers support speech to text?
Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, on desktop and Android, have the most complete Web Speech Recognition support and are the recommended choice. Safari has added partial support in recent versions but behaves inconsistently, and Firefox does not ship the API at all. If the microphone button does nothing in your browser, switching to Chrome or Edge is the fix — and check the browser's site permissions if you previously denied microphone access.
Is my speech recorded or stored?
TextlyPop never records, stores or even receives your audio — the page only sees the finished text. Be aware, though, that the recognition itself is not fully local: Chrome sends the audio to Google's speech servers for processing, under Google's privacy policy, which is how browser speech recognition achieves its accuracy. For dictating genuinely sensitive material, that trade-off is worth knowing; for everyday notes and drafts it is the same pipeline used by voice search on billions of devices.
What languages are supported?
Dozens — English variants (US, UK, Indian, Australian), Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Russian and many more. Select the language from the dropdown before you start speaking: the recogniser is tuned per language, so speaking Spanish at an English-mode session produces gibberish rather than a translation. Matching regional variants matters too — picking UK English improves results noticeably for British accents.
Can I use speech to text for continuous transcription?
Yes. Enable continuous mode and the microphone stays live across pauses, so you can dictate full paragraphs, take meeting notes, or transcribe a lecture without touching the Start button between sentences. The transcript accumulates in the text box as you go. For long sessions, pause briefly at sentence boundaries — it gives the engine time to finalise each phrase, which noticeably improves punctuation-free accuracy.