Communication Aids Once again, I am going to refer you to our “Swiss army knife” assistive listening device, our cell phones. There are apps that can assist us in communicating. Basically, they provide captions. One can even use the phone’s microphone and a headset/streamer/earbud/etc. as a personal communicator—but that’s another story. This article will focus on a couple of captioning apps that may be helpful. Live Transcribe (Android) and MyEar (iPhone) worked similarly, in a low noise environment. The main issue is the phone’s microphone’s ability to pick up the voice we want. A reasonably price microphone can be purchased and plugged into the phone. Note the jacks may require special plugs. Steve Fraiser tells us: For any who are not aware of the new Google app, Live Transcribe, and secure enough to not have an iPhone, this is a remarkable new speech to text app that is unbelievable. The app is free. The service is free. You can set the size of the type and the app even punctuates! It was demonstrated to me other day at a small meeting. With an Android phone on the table the app captioned both of us sitting across the table from each other as we talked and the captions were almost instant. First chance I got, I downloaded it to my Moto and tried it at home. Worked great - can even give you captions of what's actually being said on the news and weather instead of the teleprompter script that's always ahead of the reporter or, in some cases, has nothing to do with what's being said on the weather. “MyEar” was developed to meet a specific need, and as a business—it has a nominal cost, whereas Live Transcribe is free. Microsoft Translator was presented at the HLAA National convention and is free and a great captioning app. It can be used to caption PowerPoint presentations, too. It works on both iPhone and Android. (David Myers) Ann Thomas tells us: The iRig Mic Lava is the audio solution for film television or broadcasting scenarios. This lavalier mic provides convenient crisp high-quality audio right into your smartphone or tablet. It's equipped with an omnidirectional condenser microphone to pick up sound from all directions and the foam pop filter eliminates vocal plosives and wind noises. Any app that accepts input from a headset connection is compatible with the iRig Mic Lav. More thanks to the built-in switch is it possible to connect up to two iRig Mic Lava to the same device or an earphone. Just connect the 1/8 inch.
TRRS jack to your device (both iOS and Android) open your recording app and you're ready to capture quality audio. The in-line connector hosts a 1/8 inch. TRRS and a dedicated switch that allows you to connect your headphones for monitoring your recording or a second iRig Mic Lav. Features include: * Professional Lavalier Mic with TRRS Jack * High-quality Omni-directional condenser capsule * Includes foam pop shield and durable mountable clip * Compatible with audio apps that accept audio from headset input * Compatible with Apple iOS/Android devices * Allows you to connect both headphones and a second iRig Mic Lava (Amazon) (Ann Thomas) These apps can be downloaded from your app store or Google Store. It would be neat if we could try these in several situations and report back to www.hearinglosskentucky.org the results and opinions. Please note: Most of this material was taken from HLAA Leaders List and Loopers on Google Groups. We thank them for their contribution.

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