Google unveils Recorder app that transcribes spoken word on device in real-time

During its event launching the Google Pixel 4 (and other Made by Google devices), Google showed off a new app called Recorder. The app — which will be exclusive to the Pixel 4 lineup, at least at first — will transcribe spoken word in real-time using only on-device systems.

That means even if you have zero internet service at the time, the Google Recorder app will work as expected. To emphasize this, during the event, Google showed off the app with the smartphone in airplane mode.

Once you’ve transcribed some speech, you can then save both the audio file and its linked text file. After you’ve saved the file, you can then perform searches for words spoken in the file. For example, you could do a search for the word “Pixel” and the app will pull up any audio file in which the word “Pixel” is mentioned.

What’s more, the app will highlight where that word appears in the audio file so you can quickly scrub to the sections you’re looking for.

This app will be incredibly useful for a variety of things. Students can use the app to easily transcribe lectures, journalists can use it to conduct interviews, and businesses can use it to easily transcribe meetings. Once done, people can easily find the information they need without needing to listen to it all over again.

The Google Recorder app will be exclusive to the Pixel 4, but will likely make its way to other devices in the near future.