Support FAQ

Below we have included information we think you may find helpful and/or to reference should you experience any issues (we hope not). If you continue to have any issues please reach out to us via our contact page and we will try to remedy your issue.

Built-in offline capable speech recogniser

Starting with version 1.12.17; Transcribable now includes a offline capable speech recogniser. Powered by Whisper.cpp and a custom implementation of Silero VAD (Voice activity detection). Performance will vary subject to how powerful your device is.

Where possible the Whisper.cpp is configured to try to use a variant optimised for instruction sets supported by your CPU. Higher end devices will perform better than lower end devices.

Try the tiny model first and if tiny is slow for you, then you will need a more powerful phone or use a different speech recogniser.

Development for this functionality was performed on the following devices; with both achieving acceptable transcription times:

• Samsung S24 Ultra
• Sony Xperia IV

I have a Samsung device how do I set Transcribable as the system default recogniser?

In short you can’t; this is a deliberate design choose from Samsung where they limit the system’s speech recogniser these values are hard coded to allow either:

• Samsung STT
• Or Google’s STT

We reached out to Samsung to query this decision and the response was a typical non-response. It appears Samsung prioritises games/themes/wallpaper type application on their App store.

You can still set the default speech reogniser used by Transcribable under settings.

Custom speech recogniser usage

Transcribable from version 1.08.03 allows users to customise the speech recogniser used by the application. This allows users to select and use third-party speech recognisers independently from the device default select. The new option under settings will list all installed speech recognisers that support (this should be most implementations):

• android.speech.action.RECOGNIZE_SPEECH implicit intents

Known supported speech recognisers include (this is not comprehensive):

Supported (default):

• com.google.android.tts
• org.futo.voiceinput – Futo Voice Input package supports offline on-device speech recognition package

Transcribable also supports the SpeechRecognizer API; which is the default operation method this enables custom in-app implementations for handling speech recognition. However there doesn’t appear to be many speech recognisers that actually provide this API.

Supported (default):

• com.google.android.tts

If you have tested any and would like to provide feedback please reach out to us.

How does the transcription feature work on my watch?

When making a transcription from your watch with Transcribable, please note that if your watch doesn’t have its own data connection, it will use the data connection from your phone. The process involves the watch sending the request via Bluetooth to your phone, which then uses its data connection to obtain the results and sends them back to the watch. This data flow remains the same regardless of the connectivity method your watch is using.

If you are experiencing issues with transcriptions, it is likely related to data connectivity. You can check the signal strength on your devices using the standard feature on Android or consult the help documentation for your smartwatch for more specific instructions.

Clearing app caches on your watch may also help improve performance.

What are some tips for improving my experience with the app?

Here are some general tips that may enhance your experience with the app:

• Avoid keeping your device in your pocket or concealed in something, as this can hinder data connectivity. Instead, place it in a high location, assuming it is sheltered, to optimise data connectivity.
• Keep in mind that Bluetooth transmission distance is approximately 10 meters without obstructions.
• If you are using a SIM on your smartwatch for data, be aware that having it on your wrist and being concealed in a shelter or similar environment may weaken the signal. It is recommended to rely on your phone’s connectivity whenever possible, as this can also improve the watch’s battery life.
• Setting up a WiFi hotspot on your phone and connecting your smartwatch to it may provide better connectivity if you have a strong data signal on your phone. Please note that this option has not been extensively tested.

My Pro purchase is not activating/registering within the application.

Notice: from Transcribable version 1.09.00 all functionality was made available to all users as a perpetual trial. Pro purchases now help support continued development.

This issue can arise when there are multiple Google accounts present on the device; if for any reasons you have reinstalled the application recently and your purchase is not activating the issue is likely linked to installing the Transcribable application under the wrong account. Your Pro purchase is bound to the account it was purchased on.

Resolution: To fix the issue uninstall Transcribable from the devices and then under the Play Store before re-installation check and switch to the account which you made the Pro purchase under. Once you have confirmed the purchasing account, reinstall the Transcribable application; any data you had previously should be preserved.

Under Data Policy what does “App activity: Other user-generated content” mean?

In relation to Transcribable this relates to application install statistics, crash statistics and error log information which is collected by Google Play’s reporting services. Oddineers Ltd. does not store, process or handle in any transcriptions created with Transcribable. For more information please review:

• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy

Under Data Policy what does “Data can’t be deleted” mean?

No data is collected means that we cannot delete what we do not posses.

Legacy: What is the persistent foreground service?

Note this is only applicable if you’re using a legacy version on older devices (earlier than Android 9).

Inmost instances the persistent service is not required unless you wish to have a persistent notification linking to Transcribable always shown. The notification will show the last sent message received on the device. It is not essential for receiving notification from the Wear OS device to the Android device it is used to enhance the experience and provide some additional functions on older devices.

Older devices and devices struggling to keep background services open will find this functionality useful.

The persistent service will only start once it is enabled and when the application is not in the foreground (active). To test you can access preferences under Transcribable > Settings and manually start the persistent service.