Kõnele

Speech-to-text provider

New in version 1.9.16

- Improve compatibility with Android v13 and v14
- Update dependencies

Kõnele is an app that offers speech-to-text user interfaces to other apps. Many apps contain a text area or a text field (e.g. a message box or a search bar) that can be edited using the input method editor (IME), aka the on-screen keyboard. Kõnele provides an IME that is optimized for speech input. Modalities like swiping and buttons are also supported, for situations where speaking is less convenient. Many apps (e.g. intelligent assistants, navigation apps) also contain a microphone button that is linked to the standard Android speech recognition activity. Kõnele provides an implementation of this activity, and uses it itself as a launcher.

Kõnele can connect to any speech recognition service available on the device but by default uses, and is optimized for Kõnele service (https://github.com/Kaljurand/K6nele-service), a separate lightweight app whose backing server runs the kaldi-gstreamer-server (https://github.com/alumae/kaldi-gstreamer-server) software. The default server operates from Tallinn and provides Estonian speech recognition, but the software is easy to deploy elsewhere (e.g. a private network) and customize for other languages.

(Note that Kõnele also includes a simpler version of "Kõnele service" under the name "Kõnele (fast recognition)".)

Versions

Although APK downloads are available below to give you the choice, you should be aware that by installing that way you will not receive update notifications and it's a less secure way to download. We recommend that you install the F-Droid client and use that.

Download F-Droid

Version 1.9.16 (1916) suggested Added on Mar 30, 2024

This version requires Android 7.0 or newer.

It is built by F-Droid and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.
Permissions
- access Do Not Disturb
  
  Allows the app to read and write Do Not Disturb configuration.
- have full network access
  
  Allows the app to create network sockets and use custom network protocols. The browser and other applications provide means to send data to the internet, so this permission is not required to send data to the internet.
- read the contents of your shared storage
  
  Allows the app to read the contents of your shared storage.
  (12L)
- record audio
  
  This app can record audio using the microphone while the app is in use.
- set an alarm
  
  Allows the app to set an alarm in an installed alarm clock app. Some alarm clock apps may not implement this feature.
- ee.ioc.phon.android.speak.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION
- ee.ioc.phon.android.speak.permission.FETCH_URL
Download APK 1.8 MiB PGP Signature | Build Log
Version 1.8.14 (1814) - Added on Feb 20, 2022

This version requires Android 5.0 or newer.

It is built by F-Droid and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.
Permissions
- access Do Not Disturb
  
  Allows the app to read and write Do Not Disturb configuration.
- have full network access
  
  Allows the app to create network sockets and use custom network protocols. The browser and other applications provide means to send data to the internet, so this permission is not required to send data to the internet.
- query all packages
  
  Allows an app to see all installed packages.
- read the contents of your shared storage
  
  Allows the app to read the contents of your shared storage.
- record audio
  
  This app can record audio using the microphone while the app is in use.
- set an alarm
  
  Allows the app to set an alarm in an installed alarm clock app. Some alarm clock apps may not implement this feature.
- ee.ioc.phon.android.speak.permission.FETCH_URL
Download APK 1.9 MiB PGP Signature | Build Log
Version 1.8.10 (1810) - Added on Oct 31, 2021

This version requires Android 5.0 or newer.

It is built by F-Droid and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.
Permissions
- access Do Not Disturb
  
  Allows the app to read and write Do Not Disturb configuration.
- have full network access
  
  Allows the app to create network sockets and use custom network protocols. The browser and other applications provide means to send data to the internet, so this permission is not required to send data to the internet.
- query all packages
  
  Allows an app to see all installed packages.
- read the contents of your shared storage
  
  Allows the app to read the contents of your shared storage.
- record audio
  
  This app can record audio using the microphone while the app is in use.
- set an alarm
  
  Allows the app to set an alarm in an installed alarm clock app. Some alarm clock apps may not implement this feature.
- ee.ioc.phon.android.speak.permission.FETCH_URL
Download APK 1.6 MiB PGP Signature | Build Log