Once upon a time, there used to be a pencil and a paper. People communicated using these two and their voices. Then came the Internet and mobile devices, and communicating via texts became extremely popular. However, this form of communication wasn’t always the ideal solution and sometimes took a lot of time. That’s why people decided to go back to using their voices, but still kept their beloved gadgets. This is how the speech recognition was born.
A nice little fairytale, don’t you agree?
Using your iPad hands-free can make whatever you’re doing a lot easier and quicker. If you have the iPad 4 Retina, the iPad mini, the iPad Air or the iPad 2 Mini, you can use this function through iOS’s virtual assistant, Siri. But if you do not want to rely on Siri, or if you have an older model of Apple’s tablet, there are other ways to use your iPad with just your voice.
Google Search
Google Search app
The Google Search application is free and it’s integrated into the Google Search engine. Just set the default search engine to Google in your browser or go to www.google.com in order to use it. You can also download it via iTunes.
To use this app, you must first tap the microphone icon. This will initiate the search. Then, press the red microphone and state your search term. Let Google do the rest. Remember to speak as clearly as you possibly can.
Dragon Dictation
Dragon Dictation app
This app is free on iTunes, as well. It instantly transcribes texts or messages that you dictate and can also be used for texting, sending emails, updating your Facebook status, posting a tweet or writing a note.
To create a new note, tap the “+” icon in the upper right corner of Dragon’s interface. Tap the red button next and start dictating your text. A box with “Speak Here” will appear on your screen, so try to aim your voice towards it as much as you can. Once you’re done, you can edit the parts of your note to your liking.
Of course, there are other great apps, but these are the best among the free ones. You can always use Siri, but Google Search and Dragon Dictation are more practical for basic functions (e.g. writing a text message, an email, a reminder etc.).