Transcription that works with no internet
D-REC transcribes on your own device, so it keeps working on a plane, in a basement, or with the wifi off. The engine downloads once, then transcription needs no network at all.
Most transcription services send your audio to a server, turn it into text there, and send the text back. That is why they stop working when the connection does, and why a plane, a basement or a hotel with bad wifi turns them into an ordinary voice recorder.
D-REC does the transcription on the device in front of you. The first time, it downloads a transcription engine: about 45 MB on a phone and about 300 MB on a computer with a graphics card. After that the network is not part of transcribing at all. In the iPhone, Mac and Windows apps, and in a browser tab that is already open, you can switch to airplane mode and the text still appears as you speak.
Offline uses the same full engine D-REC always uses, because there is no other one. There is no server version to fall back to and nothing that quietly gets better when you reconnect.
What still wants a connection is your plan, and only sometimes. A monthly or yearly subscription checks in from time to time to confirm it is still running. Pro Forever, the one-time purchase, installs a licence on that computer that does not expire, so a computer signed in once runs Pro from then on with no network at all.
OPEN D‑RECAlso on Android, Mac and Windows: every way to get D‑REC.
Questions people ask
Does D-REC need the internet to transcribe?
No. The transcription engine downloads once (about 45 MB on a phone, about 300 MB on a computer with a graphics card), and after that transcription runs entirely on your device. The iPhone, Mac and Windows apps work in airplane mode; in a browser, open D-REC while you are online first.
Is the offline engine worse than the online one?
There is no online one. The engine that runs offline is the only engine D-REC has, so nothing is being held back.
Does my audio get uploaded when I reconnect?
No. Recordings and transcripts never leave the device, connected or not. There is nowhere for them to be uploaded to.
Also asked as: transcribe without internet · offline speech to text · transcription app that works offline · no wifi transcription · local transcription.
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