• Free Dragon Dictation Software Download
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• Oct 29, 2018  I am in fact using Dragon 6.0.8 to dictate this. I am also using the latest version of Mac OS, Mojave 10.14.5. As long as the application receiving the dictation is added to the list of applications able to control the computer in the systems accessibility panel, Dragon works like a.
• ‎The most accurate professional-grade dictation service available on the market. Create templates, add custom words, and instantly dictate your documents – Dragon Anywhere will automatically adapt to how you speak. Download your one-week FREE TRIAL now! Trial converts to a monthly ($14.99) or annual.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13.0 is available as a free download on our software library. The most popular versions of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking 13.0, 12.0 and 11.5. This PC software is developed for Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 environment, 32-bit version. Dragon NaturallySpeaking relates. Dragon Dictate - Dictation Software. About 20 years ago Dragon used to be called 'Dragon Dictate' until the name transitioned to 'Dragon NaturallySpeaking'. Dragon Naturally Speaking has now been renamed to Dragon Professional Individual. Dragon Professional Individual is available on Windows PC only. 1-16 of 295 results for 'dragon dictation software' Skip to main search results Amazon Prime. Eligible for Free Shipping. Free Shipping by Amazon. Hidden Tricks to Help You Dictate Your Book, Work Anywhere and Set Your Words Free with Speech Recognition (Dictation Mastery for PC and Mac) Part of: Dictation Mastery for PC and Mac (2 Books.

Whether you prefer to dictate documents or you require voice recognition software due to a disability, there are several choices on your computer that are available, each with varying levels of accuracy and ease of use.

Likely the most recognizable and preferred voice recognition and dictation program is Dragon NaturallySpeaking, which comes in a variety of versions with different features for various applications. The basic version, with the bare minimum features, costs $49.99. The professional and enterprise versions go up to $500.

There are free alternatives to Dragon, provided by Microsoft and Google. Recently released is Microsoft Garage's Dictate add-on to Microsoft Office. Dictate uses the artificial intelligence application Cortana’s speech recognition network. Windows' Speech Recognition application can be used for dictation on most programs, and Google Docs has a voice typing feature as well. We tested each of these programs to see if they offer a viable alternative to the well-known Dragon.

How We Tested

Accuracy is critical with speech recognition software. In testing each of the four programs, we dictated a test paragraph, which was exactly 300 words. (Each of the applications was installed on the same test computer, and we used the same microphone with each program). We dictated the same test paragraph multiple times. In evaluating the results, we looked for misspellings, missed words, use of correct words and punctuation errors.

Ease of use is just as important as accuracy, since these programs are meant to be used hands-free. Knowing how to work each program and how to navigate the features with your voice and minimal use of the mouse and keyboard is vital. In evaluating ease of use, we assessed how navigable the program or tool was using only our voice and how well the apps understood our commands, such as starting and stopping dictation and correcting mistakes. We evaluated the tutorials each program offered and the learning curve of each tool.

1. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 15

Dragon is not the only paid voice recognition/dictation software on the market, but it is among the most popular. There are some 22 million registered users.

The latest version of Nuance's long-running software lives up to its reputation as a superior voice recognition program. Dragon features an intuitive interface aided by an interactive tutorial, which can be replayed at any time. It uses a toolbar on the top of your screen you use with your mouse or by issuing simple voice commands, such as starting and stopping the dictation. The program easily distinguished commands from dictation. When dictating, Dragon clearly understood the difference between words and punctuation.

Dragon was the most accurate of the speech recognition programs we tested, missing just an average of two words during our tests. There was some missing punctuation, like a few commas, but for the most part, it transcribed our punctuation commands correctly.

Its low error rate is likely helped by an extensive accuracy tuner that runs when you start the program for the first time. The tuner allows the program to become acquainted with your voice. You can run this tuner whenever you want to improve the program's performance.

The major advantage Dragon has over the other programs we evaluated is the abundance of features aside from dictation, including controlling your computer, managing a custom vocabulary and transcribing audio files.

There are two drawbacks to Dragon. The first is the high price point; the second is that different languages require that you purchase various versions.

2. Windows Speech Recognition

Windows' built-in speech recognition tool offered fairly accurate transcription and helpful access features that, with some additional instruction, are easy to learn.

Speech Recognition's primary function is for navigating Windows using voice commands, but you can also use it to dictate speech to text for just about any application that has text input. We experienced intermittent trouble activating the program, which is initiated by saying, 'Start listening.' To stop dictation, you say, 'Stop listening.'

Much like Dragon, Speech Recognition has a tutorial that acts a voice calibrator. You dictate the program's instructions, and the program fine-tunes itself to your voice, which we found clever. If you're a frequent user of this feature, you can set it so the application launches when you turn on your computer.

There are two dictation modes: the first one types text directly into text fields; the second mode consists of a dictation scratchpad that allows you to edit and approve dictated text before it's inserted into the text field. We found the dictation's accuracy lacking at first, but over subsequent tests, it improved. Out of our 300-word paragraph, Speech Recognition missed an average of 4.6 words and punctuation was mostly accurate, with a few missed commas and periods.

Windows' application is a good alternative if you're looking for a basic, free transcription app, but it was not as accurate as Dragon. Our main complaints with the program involved difficulties launching the program using the proper voice command and some commands being mistaken as part of the transcription, or in some cases, not capturing the text at all.

3. Google Docs

If you frequently use Google's suite of free office applications, you may already know that there is a voice typing feature that can be activated from the toolbar or by hitting Ctrl+Shft+S. This is a bare- bones dictation tool that doesn't require any setup or calibration, and that could account for its less-than-stellar accuracy.

On one hand, the austerity of the app makes it one of the simplest to use, but any further instruction needs to be found in a help menu that is sparse on proper guides. It has a reference list of commands to help you type and issue commands, but no other instructions are provided.

Accuracy was subpar, compared to other programs, with an average of 6.3 missed words in our testing (out of a total of 300 words). Punctuation was mostly accurate, but some punctuation isn't recognized by the program. For instance, in one sentence, rather than inserting a semicolon, it transcribed the word 'semicolon.' It featured other quirks that made our copy look sloppy, such as capitalizing certain words for no apparent reason and inserting unnecessary spaces. There's no way to calibrate or tune the program to your voice to improve accuracy.

We did like that Google Docs' dictation feature can be set to accommodate more than 50 languages and dozens of regional dialects for Arabic, English, Spanish and a few others. Overall, we found the simplicity to be a double-edged blade with the quick activation convenient, but no other options available to customize the experience. The ease of use could be improved with the addition of guided instruction.

4. Microsoft Dictate

Recently released under Microsoft's experimental software label Microsoft Garage, Dictate is a free add-on to Microsoft Office. It is currently only compatible with Word, Outlook and PowerPoint. Dictate uses Cortana's speech recognition software to transcribe. Since it needs to tap into this network, your computer needs to be connected to the internet for it to work.

We found the accuracy of Dictate to be the worst of the four apps we tested. Although installation was simple, there was no voice calibration nor a tutorial on how to use the program.

Out of 300 words, it missed an average of 14.6 words. The software misunderstood several words. Plus it was the only program we tested that typed out nonsensical words and sentences. There is a manual punctuation feature that you can toggle, but even with this off, punctuation was often missed or even spelled out in the copy such as 'period'” and 'comma.' Overall, we found Dictate's transcription ability unsatisfactory and would not recommend it in its current state.

Understandably, since this is an experimental, early-release feature, it's likely the program may be updated and its accuracy will improve. The add-on has a translation feature that allows you to type out your dictation in another language, but we did not test the accuracy of this feature.

Summary

While some of the free dictation tools we reviewed could be reasonably used as an alternative to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, they fail to surpass Dragon's accuracy and ease of use. Dragon has the variety of features, accuracy and ease of use we expected from dictation software. There were few mistakes, and when they occurred, it was a simple matter of correcting them just using our voice.

For simple dictation of notes and other unimportant copy, consider Speech Recognition, Google's dictation tool or Microsoft's Dictate. When accuracy is imperative and you must rely on speech recognition software to cleanly and efficiently create a word processing document for professional purposes, such as business or legal, we recommend Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

I’m a desktop kind of person who almost always prefer a computer over a phone — unless I’m away from my desk. I have already mentioned on several blog posts that I take a lot of time to create a blog post — from researching to writing to editing to formatting.

And that’s why I’m always trying to find a way to streamline my content creation process — to make it more consistent, stress-free, and efficient. Obviously, the biggest task involved in publishing a blog post is actually the writing process itself.

Macos sierra mail app switch from outlook 2016 mac. Once the first draft gets done, the rest happens like magic!

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Over the past several months/years, I tried several dictation or voice to text software — including the super-popular Dragon Speech Recognition Software (but I tried it several years back) — and nothing really worked for me.

Not anymore!

Meet “Voice typing…” On Google Docs

I was an active Google Docs user until few months back and then almost stopped using it. A couple of weeks back I noticed that Google introduced “Voice typing…” to Google Docs. However, it’s not supported in its iOS (on iPhone and iPad) apps, yet.

Free Dragon Dictation Software Download

If you are an avid Android user then you probably know that Google has added speech recognition capabilities to it long time back.

In fact, if there’s a speech recognition software that has always worked for me then it’s Google. Google’s speech recognition technology — on Search, Translator, Google Now, etc — works like a charm thanks to Google’s immense knowledge of everything.

However, Google didn’t have an independent dictation software — especially for desktops — until now.

But what about Microsoft’s Cortana and the overhyped Apple’s Siri?

Of course, Cortana works. But again, it doesn’t offer a voice dictation on Windows Phone or elsewhere that works (correct me if I’m wrong!).

And then there’s Siri. Oh yeah, it works perfectly when you see its demo on an Apple Event. But it never worked for me. Sorry.

I’m pretty sure that a lot of you will now advocate for Siri or the in-built free dictation software on iOS or Mac OS X.

So, I picked an excerpt from my fantastic ten productivity tools and then turned on dictation in iOS (on iPhone) and Google Docs (on the web) at the same time.

Here are the results:

Note: While dictating on Google Docs, it was typing “period” or “full stop” as it is instead of inserting one. So, I edited all of them manually before copying here. Because Google’s help page for “Voice typing…” says it detects all the common punctuations like period, comma, exclamation, etc. and it did except a “period”. So maybe I missed something.

Best Dictation & Voice Recognition Software Comparison 2018

The verdict? Google is STILL the best dictation (voice to text) software on the web. And that’s not all. Google’s “Voice typing…” now works with a variety of languages and accents. Namely: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Arabic (Algeria), Arabic (Bahrain), Arabic (Egypt), Arabic (Israel), Arabic (Jordan), Arabic (Kuwait), Arabic (Lebanon), Arabic (Morocco), Arabic (Oman), Arabic (Palestine), Arabic (Qatar), Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Arabic (Tunisia), Arabic (United Arab Emirates), Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bahasa Indonesia, Basque, Bengali (Bangladesh), Bengali (India), Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Hong Kong), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), English (Canada), English (Ghana), English (India), English (Ireland), English (Kenya), English (New Zealand), English (Nigeria), English (Philippines), English (South Africa), English (Tanzania), English (UK), English (US), Farsi, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Italian (Italy), Italian (Switzerland), Japanese, Javanese, Kannada, Khmer, Korean, Laotian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Malaysian, Marathi, Nepali, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, Sinhala, Spanish, Spanish (Argentina), Spanish (Bolivia), Spanish (Chile), Spanish (Colombia), Spanish (Costa Rica), Spanish (Ecuador), Spanish (El Salvador), Spanish (Spain), Spanish (US), Spanish (Guatemala), Spanish (Honduras), Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Nicaragua), Spanish (Panama), Spanish (Paraguay), Spanish (Peru), Spanish (Puerto Rico), Spanish (Uruguay), Spanish (Venezuela), Sundanese, Swahili (Kenya), Swahili (Tanzania), Swedish, Tamil (India), Tamil (Malaysia), Tamil (Singapore), Tamil (Sri Lanka), Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu (India), Urdu (Pakistan), Vietnamese, and Zulu.

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Here’s My Take: Google Docs Voice Typing vs. iOS/OS X Dictation

Google Docs “Voice typing…” is near perfect except that adding a period or a comma or any other punctuations feels odd. Well, it’s a common problem you can’t avoid in any such software applications.

And my experience with dictation on iOS and OS X was pretty terrible. Of course, it may be designed for English-speaking nations but it’s supposed to work for others as well. Maybe someday, eh?

Anyway, even if it’s able to detect your voice perfectly it’s not the best dictation software out there. You know why?

iOS/OS X dictation pauses every 40 seconds or so. So, you have to wait until it’s ready to accept the next sentence/paragraph. If you think it’s comfortable then there’s one more problem. That is, you can’t type when you are dictating.

That’s where Google Docs comes to party. When you turn on Google Docs dictation, you can actually use both your voice as well as the keyboard — at the same time.

For instance, I can dictate a sentence and then write the next sentence by myself without turn off the voice dictation. It basically means that, Google’s speech recognition software is always running in the background and it will convert any word you speak to text.

However, if you change your browser window or switch to another application then the dictation is turned off automatically and you have to turn it on again to resume automatic dictation.

Mac os screen sharing app. Full-Screen Mode. An app window in full-screen mode offers a distraction-free working environment. Toolbars, menus, and other standard controls are often hidden and revealed only when the user calls for them, such as by moving the pointer to the top of the screen. Some apps even hide essential controls to increase the focus on content. Many apps on your Mac support full-screen mode—an app fills the entire screen—so you can take advantage of every inch of the screen and work without desktop distractions. On your Mac, move the pointer to the green button in the top-left corner of the window, then choose Enter Full Screen from the menu that appears or click the button. Split View allows you to automatically fill the screen on your Mac with two apps. Full Screen does exactly what it says, it fills the entire screen with the app you are working with. Full-Screen Mode. To use an app in full-screen mode, in the top-left corner of the app window, click the. May 15, 2018  The best way to make Mac apps default to opening in full screen mode is by changing your app usage behavior a bit, combined with an adjustment to a Mac OS system setting. The end result will be that, at least with many apps that support full screen mode, they will relaunch directly into full screen mode on the Mac.

That’s not all!

Google’s speech recognition technology is so smart it even attempts to correct a sentence when you are done with it. For instance, see that Apple typed “beatles” and “potatoes” when I said “paid tools”.

So, if the same error occurred in Google Docs then it might have made an attempt to correct so that the final sentence make sense.

Note: I have written this article for desktop users and that’s why I didn’t list any other speech recognition software or voice to text apps for mobile. If you are looking for an advanced speech recognition software (which is not just for dictation alone) then you can always try Dragon NaturallySpeaking or any other proprietary software. But it’s going to cost you. For instance, Dragon for Mac costs over $200 and Dragon for PC costs over $75.

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Closing Thoughts

I first realized Google’s speech recognition capability when I tried their Translator app. And I even tried to make it a dictation software. But it didn’t work as it’s just a tool which detects your voice and convert it to text — to translate into another language.

Dragon Naturallyspeaking For Mac Free Trial

Now with Google Docs “Voice typing…”, you can enjoy Google’s speech recognition technology on the web as well — that too, in a word processor, yay!

Actually, I tried to write this blog post using “Voice typing…” but it failed and ended up taking more time than typing. No, it’s not because it didn’t detect my voice or something. But simply because I didn’t train myself to do it that way.

And I’m sure that it can be a great time saver when I (or probably you) figured out a way to make this work for you. So I will keep on trying this at times so that I can also make an attempt to write a 1,000 word blog post in 10 minutes — like her.

Happy Dictating! :)

P.S. Google didn’t pay me to write this blog post. :P

First Published: October 19, 2015; Last Updated: Saturday, February 10, 2018.