# Big Text — Real time speech to large text

> Real-time speech-to-text converter with large display and message saving. (iPhone/iPad app by David Gaskill.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/big-text/id1517801432 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [David Gaskill](https://appshunter.io/developer/1456666273)
- Category: Utilities
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.65/5 from 482 App Store ratings · 17 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 14.2 · 16 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2020-07-08
- Data updated: 2026-08-27
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/big-text/id1517801432/reviews.md

## What is Big Text?

Real time speech to text!
Big Text helps you communicate in noisy environments and through face coverings, a useful tool for visually & hearing impaired users.
Type your message or use speech recognition to display your words in real-time!
Save messages in the message library for instant recall.
Save & Share transcripts.
A range of colours and fonts chosen to be readable from distance.
Play back your messages with typing and banner animations.

## Key features

- Real-time speech to text conversion
- Large, readable text display
- Message library for saving messages
- Save and share transcripts
- Customizable colors and fonts
- Message playback with animations

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full Version Unlock | $1.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 17)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/big-text/id1517801432/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Love this app!

*2026-05-17, version 1.3.1*

I just installed this app and love it! I have been affected by a significant loss and use the typing feature to activate my ‘executive brain’  The typing sound and the repetitive scrolling of to do items and directions keeps me focused. I am also thinking of other healthy things it will assist with .  This is an absolute gift. Many blessings!

### 3/5 — Useful but annoying to use.

*2026-05-04, version 1.3.1*

I paid for the app. Being a nonverbal deaf person, I heavily rely on this app to communicate with hearing people. In terms of usage it’s great. 

But it’s also annoying in that: 
- if pausing listening mode then going back to listening mode several times rapidly, it crashes the app. 
- It doesn’t clear screen when first opening the app, so people often will see my last conversation which violates my privacy 
- There’s no button to clear screen, so I have to hit pause, listen before it clears the screen, which will crash app sometimes. 
- App complains about over 5k items in recognition history every time I launch the app. If it’s a problem purge it yourself, don’t complain to me, I’m deaf, I don’t know what recognition history is nor do I care about it, I just want to freaking use the app without being hassled by it. Those days I just hit cancel and ignore the warning. It’s pointless. 
- Can’t use pinch,stretch to alter text size, have to tap +\- to adjust. Counter intuitive. 
- I can’t type while they’re speaking. I have to pause listening mode to shut them up before I type otherwise what I am typing is lost. Split pane would be nice so I can listen to them while typing. 

Aside from those issues it’s a good app. I recommend it to people often.

### 5/5 — Life Line

*2026-04-04, version 1.3.1*

Since being introduced to Big Text, we can now communicate with Mom !!!! Life changing for our whole family 💚

### 3/5 — Shipping

*2025-10-17, version 1.3.1*

Some of the word when say wrong need fix

### 5/5 — For Deaf & Hearing Communication

*2025-03-26, version 1.3.1*

I tried to find other apps designed for transcription and they all cost money while being ineffective, which is ridiculous since it should be simple to just display spoken or typed words. I find it funny and I’m relieved that this app is free and better than all those other ones.

### 5/5 — Useful, very useful indeed.

*2025-01-01*

I use it to communicate with a deaf friend. And it works perfectly for this purpose. 

Was using the speech to text function in the iPhone Notes app previously, but the bigger text helps considerably.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the review, I’m very pleased you find the app useful.

Best regards
Dave

### 5/5 — A big positive change for my father in law

*2024-12-28, version 1.3.1*

This is a wonderful app that is very easy to use and works incredibly well in transcribing English to text. It’s great that we can communicate with Pa and not resort to shouting all the time. Huge thumbs up Dave! Only one suggestion. An easily accessible clear screen button and shake to clear would make this perfect!

### 5/5 — Useful, very useful indeed.

*2024-12-14*

Was using Notes app previously, then switched over to this app and such a huge difference

**Developer response:** Thanks for the review, I’m very pleased you find the app useful.

Best regards
Dave

### 5/5 — Great app for speech apraxia

*2024-06-23, version 1.3.1*

While this is not necessarily intended as an AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) app, it's actually the best one I found for my situation after evaluating about a dozen different AAC apps. 

My wife had brain surgery and lost speech (hopefully temporarily). She still has full comprehension and can come up with the words and type on her phone fine. I needed an app that did two basic things: display what she typed in big text and full screen, and speak for her. 90% of the time she types what she wants to say and just shows people her phone. In a group where maybe she doesn't want to show everyone her phone individually, then she has the app speak for her. While some of the AAC apps have features for a broader range of disabilities, with things like pictures, advanced predictive text, AI/natural voices, etc, I didn't need any of that.  Most were expensive monthly subscriptions and this app was a very small one time purchase to get the speech feature. Because it uses the iOS voices available in accessibility (there are a LOT now), that works just fine for "natural enough" speech. We found we like the "Zoe" voice. 

Being able to quickly adjust the size of the text displayed, and the shake to speak are great features. If I had any suggestions it would be two, and the first is simple: put a speak link/button on the main screen. It's three taps currently to tap done, then the "send to" button, then "read aloud." Shake to speak is great but just tapping a button right when she's done typing would be great. The one line options at the bottom could just have this added so it's "clear / speak / done" instead of just "clear" and "done". The second might be a bit more work, but iOS 17 lets apps request to use "personal voice" now. You can train iOS with your own voice, and then apps can use that for text to speech, but the app has to be programmed for that. I think it would be a game changer for people in a situation like my wife's to have an app "speak" with their own voice (assuming you trained it prior to losing speech or used recordings/AI to train personal voice in iOS). 

Thanks for keeping this simple, for not using a subscription model, and for an app that has made a significant difference in my wife's quality of life.

### 5/5 — Fix for no mic input

*2023-12-14, version 1.3.1*

The app worked well on my wife’s iPhone but it didn’t work on mine. I realized the only difference between them is that she had Siri setup and I didn’t. Once I started Siri, the app worked on my phone too.

## Frequently asked questions about Big Text

### What does Big Text do?

Big Text converts your spoken words into large, easily readable text in real-time. It's designed to help with communication in challenging environments like noisy places or when wearing face coverings. The app also allows you to save and share your transcribed messages.

### Who is Big Text for?

This app is particularly useful for individuals who are visually or hearing impaired, as it provides a clear and large text display. It also benefits anyone needing to communicate in loud environments or through masks, ensuring messages are understood.

### Can I save my messages?

Yes, you can save your typed or spoken messages in the app's message library. This allows for quick recall of frequently used phrases or important conversations. You can also save and share full transcripts of your sessions.

### Is Big Text free to use?

The application is free to download and use, with the option for in-app purchases. These purchases may unlock additional features or customization options beyond the core functionality.

### How does Big Text help with communication barriers?

By converting speech to large, clear text, the app overcomes barriers such as loud background noise or the muffling effect of face masks. The customizable font and color options further enhance readability from a distance, making it an effective communication tool.

## Version history (last 3 releases)

### 1.3.1 — 2022-08-21

We've tweaked the design and added some new features
(a one off payment is required to unlock some features)

- Persistent Mode: Retains all text from voice recognition session

- Autosave: Saves transcript at end of voice recognition session

- Share Transcript: Save, share and post transcripts

- Profanity Filter: Option to censor or omit profanities

- Read Aloud: Shake device to read transcript aloud

### 1.2.2 — 2020-10-18

- A small bug fix
- Added a reminder to clear the speech recognition history at 5000+ items

### 1.0.7 — 2020-07-08

No release notes.

## Apps similar to Big Text

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Text to Speech – Reading Aloud](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/text-to-speech-reading-aloud/id6443894291) | 4.5 (527) | Free | Utilities |
| [Transcribe Live Voice to Text](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/transcribe-live-voice-to-text/id1591421967) | 4.8 (169) | Free | Utilities |
| [Text To Speech With AI.](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/text-to-speech-with-ai/id1599264994) | 4.4 (696) | Free | Utilities |
| [Transcribe - Speech to Text](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/transcribe-speech-to-text/id1241342461) | 4.5 (10,708) | Free | Utilities |
| [Text to Speech: AI Book Reader](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/text-to-speech-ai-book-reader/id739280962) | 4.4 (685) | Free | Utilities |
| [Type & Speak - Text to Speech](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/type-and-speak-text-to-speech/id892467156) | 4.4 (864) | $2.99 | Utilities |

## More apps by David Gaskill

- [Cutter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cutter/id1456666274)

All apps by David Gaskill: https://appshunter.io/developer/1456666273

## Related topics

[hearing impaired text](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/hearing-impaired-text) · [realtime text](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/realtime-text) · [david gaskill](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/david-gaskill) · [speech to text for deaf](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/speech-to-text-for-deaf) · [big text](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/big-text) · [deaf text](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/deaf-text) · [bigwrite](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/bigwrite) · [large text](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/large-text) · [speak to text app](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/speak-to-text-app) · [reference apps with larger text](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/reference-apps-with-larger-text) · [gramophone dictation](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/gramophone-dictation)

---

*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-27.*