The main elements of the application
The voice notebook uses Google's speech recognition, so Google app must be installed, updated and enabled in your computer. Starting with Android 12, Google starts moving this functionality from the Google app to Speech Services by Google app.
To improve the speech recognition it is desirable to have an Internet connection and also need to install a language pack for local voice recognition. Without a local language pack, if the Internet is lost, the application will stop and give an error. This language pack is for Google app not for Speech Services by Google.
To start working, you need to select the language of voice input (click on the language code in the top panel), click on the button with the microphone and start dictating the text.
The main elements of the application
Basic settings are opened through the "General settings" section of the navigation drawer.
General settings
The Enhanced mode setting makes the speech recognition smooth.
The Use replacements setting allows you to replace words during dictation with substitutions (replace words) that are defined in the replacement list.
Setting Google's control of capital letters enables or disables the Google's capitalization algorithm in words (Google still does it with errors). If it disabled then the management of capital letters is carried out only with the voice notebook.
The Timestamp Format setting specifies the format for displaying the date and time for the #2# voice command (insert timestamp) specified in the substitution list. In this format, the letters of the Latin alphabet outside the single quotes define the individual parts of the timestamp. Other characters as well as letters within single quotes are displayed as they are. So if twice using the enter key, enter two newlines before the line yyyy-MM-dd HH: mm: ss, then, as a result of the voice command, a label of the form 2021-02-08 21:32:15 will be inserted and two transitions to a new line will be inserted before it. For more information on the format, read here.
The Backup History setting set the number of backups for saved notes. You can restore note from backups using the Recover note menu item in the note menu.
The list of substitutions is opened through the "Replacements" menu of the navigation drawer.
List of substitution during dictation
A list of substitution is defined for each language of voice input. Although Google does self-punctuation automatically for many languages, adding punctuation marks to this list adds reliability to these replacements. P.s. An invisible carriage return character in replacements is entered by pressing the "Return" key (the "Enter" key).
There are some prepared replacements for punctuation fo the language codes: en-US, en-GB, fr-FR, de-DE, it-IT, ru-RU, es-ES, so you can study them, and make you own by the same principles.
When we set punctuation by voice sometimes the space will appear before dot, comma and other punctuation chars (Google bug). You can add some replacements to eliminate this behaviour: [,] -> [,], [\.] -> [.], [!] -> [!], [\?] -> [?], [:] -> [:], [;] -> [;] (this means: comma to comma, escaped dot to dot, etc).
In addition to punctuation, any substitutions can be added to the substitution list. Do not make this list too long, so it may reduce performance.
In replacements, you can even use regular expressions for the Java language. For example, replacing the word (^|\b)i($|\b) with the word I, will replace the lowercase separate standing letters i to capital letters I (the replacement is preinstalled for in English).
In the substitutions list, you can set the command to remove the last spoken sentence (it works like the "Undo" button). To set it, you need to enter #1# in the "To word" field. You can use any word to activate this command (word in the "From field").
In the substitutions list, you can set the command to insert timestamp. To set it, you need to enter #2# in the "To word" field. You can use any word to activate this command (word in the "From field").
In the substitutions list, you can set the command to delete current phrase. The current phrase is the phase with cursor inside. To set it, you need to enter #3# in the "To word" field. You can use any word to activate this command (word in the "From field").
In the substitutions list, you can set the command to stop recording. To set it, you need to enter #4# in the "To word" field. You can use any word to activate this command (word in the "From field").
In the substitutions list, you can set a command to turn on and off the mode of entering words in capital letters. To set it, you need to enter #5# in the "To word" field. You can use any word to activate this command (word in the "From field").
To edit the substitutions, a short press on the list item is used, to delete - a long one.
In the dictation mode you need to clearly pronounce the words. In this mode, the "Undo" button is active, which undo the last spoken phrase. In addition, a sound level meter can be displayed.
Using dictation mode
In editing mode, the keyboard can be opened.
Using editing mode
То change the case of the first letter of a word, it is convenient to use the "Change letter case" button. To do this, place the cursor on the desired word (or immediately after it) and press the button.
If there is no network, then you can work in offline mode by setting the pre-required language in the voice input settings. It is better to disable the transfer of data at all in this case.
The application has a widget that automatically turn on recognition when openning the notebook, and can also immediately open a new file for writing (+ option).
Found some problem on Google side - waiting for resolving issue.
The application can be invoked using the Google Voice Assistant using the Open feature on Voice notebook voice pattern.
Where the word feature can be new note or blank note to open a new note in notebook and start voice recognition.
Or the word note or last note to open the current note in notebook and start voice recognition.
Also, in the App versions later than 2.5.0, instead of feature, you can use text to speech or TTS to switch the notepad to text reading mode,
and speech to text or dictation to switch back to dictation mode.
If the notebook is already open when the command is issued, then the "on Voice notebook" part of the command can be omitted. This will work if you have Use Screen Text enabled in Assistant Settings - General Settings.
The template works on the following locales:
en-US, en-GB, en-CA, en-IN, en-BE, en-SG, en-AU;
es-ES;
pt-BR.
For all English locales, we apply the previously described template.
For es-ES local feature can be replaced to:
nueva nota
nota en blanco
última nota
nota
texto a voz
síntesis de voz
dictado a texto
dictado
For pt-BR local feature can be replaced to:
nova nota
nota em branco
última nota
nota
texto para fala
síntese de fala
fala em texto
ditado
More information about the pattern can be found in https://developer.android.com/reference/app-actions/built-in-intents/common/open-app-feature
For other languages, you can try adding English to the second language for assistant and speak commands in English.
In addition to the listed ways to launch these commands, you can also add a voice command for them in the assistant's shortcuts settings. This option is only available for English.
To use Text to Speech functionality you must have some TTS engine installed in your phone. We recommend Google TTS engine.
Before using TTS, check in TTS settings that you set the appropriate language. Then activate the Text to Speech mode by pressing the Translation mode menu item in the navigation drawer.
After activating TTS mode, press round button to read the text. If there is a selected fragment of text, then it will be read. If there is no selection, then the text will be read from the cursor position. TTS can read no more about 4000 characters for one time.
You must activate Text to Speech (turn off and then turn on Translation mode) every time you change TTS settings.
To enable auto-saving of notes to Google Drive, open Google Settings on navigation drawer and enable auto-saving.
Voice notebook has a version for wear OS that allows you to enter notes by voice on the watch. Notes created on the watch can be sent to the phone. In addition, notes on the phone can be sent to the watch using the menu item Send to watch. This menu item is initially hidden and can be activated in UI Settings in General Settings.
Premium mode removes ads and enables Premium features on the General Settings page.
If there are any errors in the application, check that the Google app is installed and updated
(for Android 12 check also the status of Speech Services by Google app).
The app uses Google services, so on the devices, that do not certified by Google it may not work properly.
If you can't resolve the issue and the error persists, it's a good idea to uninstall the Google App (it will revert back to base) and then update it again.
The latter usually solves the problem.
Subsequent voice input erases the previous one (we have only last spoken sentence) - update Google app
During the dictation, the message "Server sends error: ..." pops up - the Internet has disappeared, and you have not installed the local voice input package for your language. Install it and error will disappear. For Android 12 users to work offline, you can try disabling Speech Services by Google.
During the dictation, the message Audio recording error or Insufficient permissions appears - if the Android version is greater than 6, verify that the permissions for the Google app have true microphone access. For Android 12, also check that Speech Services by Google has access to the microphone. Also check that Voice Notebook has microphone access.
Offensive words are replaced with asterisks - there is a Google setting Block offensive words (not exists for recent Android versions). Turn it off if you want.
Can not open .txt file from the file manager on Android 6 - give the App the permission to access files on your device (make export first).
On Meizu devices (and some others), the application does not work - switch the permisssions of the Google App to "Allow background data connection" instead of "Smart background data connection" (Security->Permisssions->Run in Background).
When working simultaneously on several devices, the upgrade to the premium on one device does not immediately synchronize to others - wait until the cache of the google play market application is updated (usually for 24 hours)
For some Huawei devices and some other brands with Android >= 6, there are problems with the flow of notification messages (unpleasant squeak during the recognition, etc.). In this case, you need to go to the following link and grant the permission to the application with the Do Not Disturb mode.
If you have not found the answer to your question, please contact the developer and we'll try to resolve your issue.